“The specific ELF frequencies I was interested in studying are 6-10 Hertz. These frequencies are the same as those produced by the human brain in the theta and alpha states. Generally, specific brain wave frequency ranges can be associated with mood or thought patterns. Frequencies below 8 Hertz are considered theta waves. While these seem to be some of the least understood frequencies, they also seem to be associated with creative, insightful thought. When an artist or scientist has the “aha” experience, there’s a good chance he or she is in theta. Alpha frequencies are from 8 to 12 Hertz and are commonly associated with relaxed, meditative states. Most people are in an alpha state during the short time immediately before they fall asleep. Alpha waves are strongest during that twilight state when we’re half asleep and half awake. Beta frequencies (above 12 Hertz) coincide with our most “awake” analytical thinking. If you are solving a math problem, you’re brain is working at beta frequencies. Most of our waking hours as adults are spent in the beta state.
A question of importance is: “If we can electronically shift the brain wave frequencies to alpha or theta, will a person’s moods or thought patterns change to those commonly associated with those frequencies?”. In other words, if we can electronically move a person’s brain waves to the alpha frequencies, will they become more relaxed? Will their state of consciousness change to coincide with their brain waves, even if those brain waves were electronically induced? These are important questions with far reaching implications. […]”
“Each ELF exposure consisted of a ten second, sine-wave transmission separated from one another by 45 – 60 seconds of no exposure. The voltage fed to the coil was 3.1 VAC (RMS). The coil was positioned 18″ in front of the subjects head. The outputs from the ELF transmitter (function generator) and the brain wave monitor were fed directly into the computer A to D board, allowing both to be displayed on the computer monitor (and recorded on disk) simultaneously. The sampling rate of the A to D converter was set at 2000 samples per second for the entire experiment. This was sufficient to visually detect differences of .1 Hertz between the ELF and brain wave frequencies. Subjects were not told when a transmission was beginning. However, at the end of each transmission, they were asked to “report”. This was their current relaxation level based on the zero to ten scale. They also reported any feelings they had experienced and these were recorded verbatim. Twenty-one frequencies were presented to each subject (from 6 to 10 Hertz in increments of .2 Hertz. For half the subjects, these frequencies were randomly selected. For the other subjects, they began at 10 Hertz and were decreased by .2 Hertz with each transmission. Subjects were not told the order of frequencies that would be presented to them.[…]
Results
Examination of the computer data revealed substantial differences between subjects. Some subjects showed lock-on (entrainment) over a wide frequency range, while other subjects showed no lock-on whatsoever. In general, lock-on occurred most frequently from 8.6 to 10 Hertz and less frequently below 8.6 Hertz.
One subject displayed lock-on for all frequencies from 7.4 to 10 Hertz. Two subjects displayed no lock-on over the entire frequency range. While I did not test a sufficient number of subjects to be statistically significant, I suspect that susceptibility to ELF entrainment follows the normal (bell-shaped) curve. At this time, I do not have any hypothesis that would allow us to predict who is susceptible and who is not.
Several interesting observations were readily apparent. Lock-on generally occurred very rapidly… within a quarter of a second in most cases. If lock-on did not occur at a specific frequency in the first second, it didn’t at all. When the brain did lock on, the amplitude of the brain waves increased to nearly double their normal size. This is typical for naturally (non-ELF) produced alpha patterns. The brain locked on to higher frequencies (9-10 Hertz) more readily, and maintained the lock-on for the entire duration of the transmission. As the frequency was lowered (below 8.6 Hertz), lock-on for most subjects occurred in bursts, rather than being continuous. For example, there might be immediate lock-on for two seconds; then the brain would “fight” the ELF frequency for a quarter of a second, and then lock-on again for another few seconds, etc.. I use the word “fight” because it looked like the brain was fighting the ELF to maintain its own frequency. The “fight” was characterized by low amplitude beta frequencies in the 15-20 Hertz range. These may, of course, have simply been analytical type thoughts, but they were not observed when the frequency was in the 9-10 Hertz range. This “fight” became more frequent as the frequency was lowered, until no lock-on was observed at all.
None of the subjects were able to consciously detect the presence of the ELF field. One female subject was able to detect whenever the field started or ended, but could not accurately say when if it was on or off at any given time. In other words, she was able to detect the change in the magnetic field, but not the presence or absence of the magnetic field itself. She thought she felt it because it aggravated her sinuses. When lock-on occurred, the brain waves lagged behind the transmitted ELF. This appeared to have been the “reaction time” of the brain to the ELF waves (approximately 60-80 milliseconds). More accurate experimentation is needed to explore this relationship.
Subjects verbatim reports were quite revealing. (Keep in mind that none of the subjects actually said they felt the ELFs.) The most common verbatim reports occurred between 8.6 and 9.6 Hertz. Common statements were subtle “tingling” sensations in the fingers, arms, legs, teeth, and roof of the mouth. Two subjects reported a “metallic” feeling in their mouth. One subject reported a “tightness” in the chest and another subject reported a “tightness” in the stomach. Several subjects also reported sensations when the ELF frequency was between 6 and 7 Hertz. The verbatim responses in this range were “ringing” in the ears, “flushed” face, “fatigued”, “tightening” in the chest and “increasing” pulse.
Lock-on occurred at lower frequencies more often when the transmitted frequencies were progressively lowered, rather than randomly presented. It would seem that the brain prefers a gradual lowering of frequency rather than a sudden or abrupt change in frequency. This may have been due to the extremely short duration of each transmission (10 seconds). It may be that this effect would disappear if longer transmission times were used.
There was no significant correlation between subjects reported level of relaxation and the ELF frequency or the occurrence of lock-on. Again, this may have been due to the extremely short duration of each transmission.
Summary
It is clear from these experiments that brain waves do in fact lock on to artificially produced ELFs in the 6 – 10 Hertz range. It is equally clear that the 10 second transmission was not sufficient to alter subjects moods to any consistent degree.”
