TENS
ZAPPING THE CRANIAL WHEATFEELDS WITH MR. LIGHT.
"What we have here,'" said Joseph Light, "is a Transcuta-neous Electro-Neural Stimulator - a TENS unit." He placed a black box about the size of a cigarette pack on the table be-tween us. It had a dial on it, and two long wires were at-tached, each ending in a small flat metal slab covered with moist terry-cloth pads. "Those two slabs are electrodes," he said. "Put them inside your socks, one against each ankle, and we'll turn you on." He chuckled.
We were sitting in a fast-food restaurant, right beside the salad bar, and as the patrons browsed through the bean sprouts they cast sidelong glances at the odd black device, and the obviously deranged character sticking wires inside his socks.
"Contact," said the appropriately named Mr. Light, turning on the switch. "I'll turn this up a bit." He adjusted the dial. "Can you feel it now?" My ankles began to hum, an odd, rather pleasant tingling sensation.
Wondering if perhaps I might commence to glow like an electric light or begin transmitting a radio talk show of my own thoughts to the nearby burger munchers, I asked Mr.
Light, who has done extensive research into the effects of electromagnetism on the human nervous system and owns
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Biomedical Instruments, Inc., a company that sells biofeed-back and electromedical equipment, to explain what was hap-pening to me. The battery-powered TENS unit sitting between us, he said, was producing an extremely mild pulsating cur-rent (from 5 to 200 microamperes - -by comparison, a com-mon 60-watt household light bulb draws about 0.5 amp, or thousands of times more current) which was passing through my body and brain.
Essentially, he explained, the brain is an electrically pow-ered and electricity-generating organ. It is composed of an estimated 100 billion neurons - more neurons than there are stars in the universe - each as complex as a small computer, each producing and transmitting electrical impulses. These electrical impulses travel from the cell body down long fibers called axons until they reach a junction, or synapse, with an-other neuron. At this point, the electrical impulses fire chemi-cal messengers, chemi-called neurotransmitters, across the synaptic gap to receptors on the next cell. The receiving neuron then generates its own electrical impulse, which again is sent to other neurons to which it is connected. Since each neuron can be connected with thousands of other neurons, each simulta-neously sending and receiving electrical impulses to and from thousands of other neurons, a single signal from one neuron can quickly reach, and electrically alter, millions of other neurons.
Since each of these millions of neurons is unique, display-ing slightly different response patterns, the brain is an un-imaginably complex electrical network with billions of electromagnetic impulses flying in all directions every second.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, "A single human brain has a greater number of possible connec-tions among its nerve cells than the total number of atomic particles in the universe."
In addition to the neurons, the brain contains billions of glial cells - by some estimates as many as ten times more glial cells than neurons. According to Light, recent research has indicated that these glial cells are also electrically sensi-tive, acting much like liquid crystals, resonating in harmony
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with the surrounding electrical fields. What this means, Light pointed out, is that the glial cells may act as semiconductors, picking up faint electrical impulses from the nervous system and the environment and amplifying them thousands of times, much the way transistors amplify very faint signals in elec-tronic circuits. Thus, while the neurons can be sending signals over networks of interconnected cells (something like an enor-mously complex telephone system, in which all individual telephones are connected, however indirectly, by wires), the signals are also amplified and carried throughout the brain by the glial cells (something like radio and television signals being broadcast over great areas), to be received by any neurons "tuned in" to the proper frequency.
And what is more, scientists are now finding that while individual neurons generate their own unique signals, they also tend to act cooperatively in networks of thousands or millions of cells, humming and throbbing simultaneously to the same electrical signal. Clearly, then, said Light, all our thoughts and perceptions essentially consist of the interactions of complex electromagnetic fields that constantly sweep across the brain.
Imagine a vast field of wheat, the millions of individual stalks of wheat being blown about and buffeted by powerful winds sweeping through the field in odd, unpredictable pat-terns. As we watch from a nearby hilltop we see areas where whole sections of wheat are being bent to the north, other areas where circular gusts of wind are forming whirling vor-texes of swirling wheat. In a way, explained Light, the brain is like the wheatfield. The individual stalks of wheat are the neurons. The patterns of energy we see sweeping through the field are like our thoughts and perceptions, and the unpredict-able winds that swirl through the field causing those thoughts and perceptions are the energy that is constantly flowing into and through the brain. That energy is electromagnetic: by blowing an electromagnetic wind through our brain, we can make the neural networks blow in certain patterns, and those patterns are thoughts and perceptions.
But of course, Light pointed out, this metaphor is a vast 113
MEGABRAIN
Biomedical Instruments, Inc., a company that sells biofeed-back and electromedical equipment, to explain what was hap-pening to me. The battery-powered TENS unit sitting between us, he said, was producing an extremely mild pulsating cur-rent (from 5 to 200 microamperes - -by comparison, a com-mon 60-watt household light bulb draws about 0.5 amp, or thousands of times more current) which was passing through my body and brain.
Essentially, he explained, the brain is an electrically pow-ered and electricity-generating organ. It is composed of an estimated 100 billion neurons - more neurons than there are stars in the universe - each as complex as a small computer, each producing and transmitting electrical impulses. These electrical impulses travel from the cell body down long fibers called axons until they reach a junction, or synapse, with an-other neuron. At this point, the electrical impulses fire chemi-cal messengers, chemi-called neurotransmitters, across the synaptic gap to receptors on the next cell. The receiving neuron then generates its own electrical impulse, which again is sent to other neurons to which it is connected. Since each neuron can be connected with thousands of other neurons, each simulta-neously sending and receiving electrical impulses to and from thousands of other neurons, a single signal from one neuron can quickly reach, and electrically alter, millions of other neurons.
Since each of these millions of neurons is unique, display-ing slightly different response patterns, the brain is an un-imaginably complex electrical network with billions of electromagnetic impulses flying in all directions every second.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, "A single human brain has a greater number of possible connec-tions among its nerve cells than the total number of atomic particles in the universe."
In addition to the neurons, the brain contains billions of glial cells - by some estimates as many as ten times more glial cells than neurons. According to Light, recent research has indicated that these glial cells are also electrically sensi-tive, acting much like liquid crystals, resonating in harmony
112
WE SING THE M I N D ELECTRIC, PART ONE: TENS
with the surrounding electrical fields. What this means, Light pointed out, is that the glial cells may act as semiconductors, picking up faint electrical impulses from the nervous system and the environment and amplifying them thousands of times, much the way transistors amplify very faint signals in elec-tronic circuits. Thus, while the neurons can be sending signals over networks of interconnected cells (something like an enor-mously complex telephone system, in which all individual telephones are connected, however indirectly, by wires), the signals are also amplified and carried throughout the brain by the glial cells (something like radio and television signals being broadcast over great areas), to be received by any neurons "tuned in" to the proper frequency.
And what is more, scientists are now finding that while individual neurons generate their own unique signals, they also tend to act cooperatively in networks of thousands or millions of cells, humming and throbbing simultaneously to the same electrical signal. Clearly, then, said Light, all our thoughts and perceptions essentially consist of the interactions of complex electromagnetic fields that constantly sweep across the brain.
Imagine a vast field of wheat, the millions of individual stalks of wheat being blown about and buffeted by powerful winds sweeping through the field in odd, unpredictable pat-terns. As we watch from a nearby hilltop we see areas where whole sections of wheat are being bent to the north, other areas where circular gusts of wind are forming whirling vor-texes of swirling wheat. In a way, explained Light, the brain is like the wheatfield. The individual stalks of wheat are the neurons. The patterns of energy we see sweeping through the field are like our thoughts and perceptions, and the unpredict-able winds that swirl through the field causing those thoughts and perceptions are the energy that is constantly flowing into and through the brain. That energy is electromagnetic: by blowing an electromagnetic wind through our brain, we can make the neural networks blow in certain patterns, and those patterns are thoughts and perceptions.
But of course, Light pointed out, this metaphor is a vast 113
MEGABRAIN
oversimplification. For not only do electrical patterns con-stantly blow through our brains like a big wind, each individ-ual wheat stalk is itself generating electrical energy, so that the vast patterns we see from our hilltop are also patterns gener-ated by the cooperative action of the millions of wheat stalks.
In fact, our brains generate so much electrical energy we can detect it clear through the thick bone of our skull simply by pressing sensors known as electrodes against our scalp to get a readout of the electrical waves called an EEG. Decades of scientific investigation of the brain's electrical activity have proved that alterations in the EEG represent alterations in thoughts and perceptions. When these electrical waves change, either in frequency or in amplitude, our state of mind changes too: one pattern of waves for doing arithmetic, say, another very different one for daydreaming. So, explained Light, it makes sense that shooting an electrical current through the brain should directly, at times radically, alter one's mental state.
As we have already noted, different brain-wave frequen-cies can, in a general way, indicate what sort of activity the brain is engaged in. The rapid beta waves (which vibrate at a frequency ranging from about 13 to 30 hertz - abbreviated Hz, and meaning cycles per second) are associated with a
"normal" level of mental arousal, with attention directed ex-ternally. The slower alpha waves (8-13Hz) can indicate relax-ation. The very slow theta waves (4-7 Hz) are often indicative of deep reverie, mental imagery, and access to memories. The ultraslow delta waves (0.5-4 Hz) generally accompany deep sleep. An explanation for this association between brain elec-trical activity and mental states is that certain elecelec-trical fre-quencies cause individual neurons or collections of neurons to release certain neurochemicals. These electrically triggered brain chemicals are the controlling factors of our mental states and the behaviors that result from them: fear, lust, depression, ecstasy, craving, love, shyness, all are the effects of combina-tions of certain neurotransmitters. Precise mixtures of these brain juices can produce extraordinarily specific mental states, such as fear of the dark, or intense concentration.
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WE SING THE MIND ELECTRIC, PART ONE: TENS
The important point, said Light, is that certain very spe-cific electrical frequencies trigger the release of certain precise types of neurochemicals. The electrical frequency Light's ma-chine was turned to was 7.83 Hz. This frequency, he claimed, is the same as that of the electrical field resonating between the earth and the ionosphere, and thus has unique powers, seemingly integrating and harmonizing one's body and brain with the earth's electromagnetic energy. It's as if, he said, the earth were resonating like a great bell, and suddenly your brain begins to vibrate at the same frequency, seeming to be-come in tune with - almost one with - the ambient frequency.
Such an integration or resonance, said Light, causes the brain and body to operate with great coherence, and can produce states of elevated consciousness. In fact, he said, when medi-tators experience samadhi, or a feeling of oneness and har-mony with all creation, researchers find that the EEGs of the meditators show their brain waves to be in this same fre-quency range. While Light talked, I seemed to feel my eyes bulge out slightly - a pleasurable sort of bulging - and felt a great desire to laugh wildly. The idea that I was resonating in tune with the earth was bizarre but somehow delightful. My mind seemed extraordinarily alert, and I shot rapid-fire ques-tions at him.
Could it be so simple? I wondered if simply by sending a specific current through my brain I could call forth, for exam-ple, my exact mental state at the instant I hit a home run in a baseball game twenty years ago. "The frequency of the wave is important," said Light, "but even more important is the shape of the wave." A single frequency, such as 7.83 Hz, can be delivered in an infinite number of waveforms, ranging from the familiar regular rolling sinusoidal pattern, to jagged, irreg-ularly shaped sawtooth waves, to waves that are rectangular or squared off, flat on top and flat on the bottom. And each different waveform at each different frequency will have a different effect on the user's brain, causing the release of a different combination of neurochemicals. One Japanese TENS researcher, it seems, discovered that the best waveform for producing a certain type of pain relief was Vivaldi's Four
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oversimplification. For not only do electrical patterns con-stantly blow through our brains like a big wind, each individ-ual wheat stalk is itself generating electrical energy, so that the vast patterns we see from our hilltop are also patterns gener-ated by the cooperative action of the millions of wheat stalks.
In fact, our brains generate so much electrical energy we can detect it clear through the thick bone of our skull simply by pressing sensors known as electrodes against our scalp to get a readout of the electrical waves called an EEG. Decades of scientific investigation of the brain's electrical activity have proved that alterations in the EEG represent alterations in thoughts and perceptions. When these electrical waves change, either in frequency or in amplitude, our state of mind changes too: one pattern of waves for doing arithmetic, say, another very different one for daydreaming. So, explained Light, it makes sense that shooting an electrical current through the brain should directly, at times radically, alter one's mental state.
As we have already noted, different brain-wave frequen-cies can, in a general way, indicate what sort of activity the brain is engaged in. The rapid beta waves (which vibrate at a frequency ranging from about 13 to 30 hertz - abbreviated Hz, and meaning cycles per second) are associated with a
"normal" level of mental arousal, with attention directed ex-ternally. The slower alpha waves (8-13Hz) can indicate relax-ation. The very slow theta waves (4-7 Hz) are often indicative of deep reverie, mental imagery, and access to memories. The ultraslow delta waves (0.5-4 Hz) generally accompany deep sleep. An explanation for this association between brain elec-trical activity and mental states is that certain elecelec-trical fre-quencies cause individual neurons or collections of neurons to release certain neurochemicals. These electrically triggered brain chemicals are the controlling factors of our mental states and the behaviors that result from them: fear, lust, depression, ecstasy, craving, love, shyness, all are the effects of combina-tions of certain neurotransmitters. Precise mixtures of these brain juices can produce extraordinarily specific mental states, such as fear of the dark, or intense concentration.
114
WE SING THE MIND ELECTRIC, PART ONE: TENS
The important point, said Light, is that certain very spe-cific electrical frequencies trigger the release of certain precise types of neurochemicals. The electrical frequency Light's ma-chine was turned to was 7.83 Hz. This frequency, he claimed, is the same as that of the electrical field resonating between the earth and the ionosphere, and thus has unique powers, seemingly integrating and harmonizing one's body and brain with the earth's electromagnetic energy. It's as if, he said, the earth were resonating like a great bell, and suddenly your brain begins to vibrate at the same frequency, seeming to be-come in tune with - almost one with - the ambient frequency.
Such an integration or resonance, said Light, causes the brain and body to operate with great coherence, and can produce states of elevated consciousness. In fact, he said, when medi-tators experience samadhi, or a feeling of oneness and har-mony with all creation, researchers find that the EEGs of the meditators show their brain waves to be in this same fre-quency range. While Light talked, I seemed to feel my eyes bulge out slightly - a pleasurable sort of bulging - and felt a great desire to laugh wildly. The idea that I was resonating in tune with the earth was bizarre but somehow delightful. My mind seemed extraordinarily alert, and I shot rapid-fire ques-tions at him.
Could it be so simple? I wondered if simply by sending a specific current through my brain I could call forth, for exam-ple, my exact mental state at the instant I hit a home run in a baseball game twenty years ago. "The frequency of the wave is important," said Light, "but even more important is the shape of the wave." A single frequency, such as 7.83 Hz, can be delivered in an infinite number of waveforms, ranging from the familiar regular rolling sinusoidal pattern, to jagged, irreg-ularly shaped sawtooth waves, to waves that are rectangular or squared off, flat on top and flat on the bottom. And each different waveform at each different frequency will have a different effect on the user's brain, causing the release of a different combination of neurochemicals. One Japanese
Could it be so simple? I wondered if simply by sending a specific current through my brain I could call forth, for exam-ple, my exact mental state at the instant I hit a home run in a baseball game twenty years ago. "The frequency of the wave is important," said Light, "but even more important is the shape of the wave." A single frequency, such as 7.83 Hz, can be delivered in an infinite number of waveforms, ranging from the familiar regular rolling sinusoidal pattern, to jagged, irreg-ularly shaped sawtooth waves, to waves that are rectangular or squared off, flat on top and flat on the bottom. And each different waveform at each different frequency will have a different effect on the user's brain, causing the release of a different combination of neurochemicals. One Japanese