We think it is important to stay up to date on the latest research, developments and insights that might make a difference to those with neurodegenerative diseases and injuries.
An interesting phenomenon happened back in the 1940’s when the Army was first rolling out its new radar technology. The Army supervisors noticed that when they walked by the radar techs, sometimes they would be asleep, or just staring the screen even though there was a blip indicating an enemy approaching. Puzzled, the Army started researching the phenomenon and realized that the flash on the screen as the radar would make its sweep was at a regular frequency of wave known as Delta waves. Delta waves are the brain waves we experience when we sleep and that was the beginning of our understanding that when out brain is subjected to regular flashes of light, the brain begins to keep pace with the flashes.
Further experiments were conducted to discover not only would this occur with flashes of light, but also pulses of sound and cranial-electro stimulation. Experiments began to test other frequencies to see if the brain could be sped up or slowed down, and it turns out, you can! The brain shifts into different wavelengths depending on what it is doing. If we are really focused on something, our brains might be in Gamma or Beta waves, meditation increases our Alpha waves, and when sleeping we experience Delta and Theta Waves.
Many people living with neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s experience a good portion of their day stuck in Delta and Theta Waves. It’s as if they are asleep even though they are up moving around. Later on, when it is time for them to go to sleep, many of them struggle to do that. With any sort of brain degeneration of head trauma, our brains can start to lose the ability to easily switch from one brain wave pattern to the next.
Those experiencing concussions and TBIs can also be effected by shifting brainwave patterns which can not just affect sleep, but can lead to eating and mood disorders as well.
So what do we do here at the Maryland Center for Brain Health to help with this problem? It turns a lot of researchers have experimented with what is now known as Audio-Visual entrainment. Using light and sound to help the brain to re-learn how to get into different brain waves patterns. There are many different devices out there, but we use one called the David De-lite Pro made by Mind Alive. This device helps those with dementia shift their brain waves throughout the day to help reduce aggressive behaviors, sun-downing and improve sleep.
For more information, please visit our brain therapy studio page or call and schedule an opportunity to try it out for yourself!
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