Use Of Isochronic Tones In Brainwave Entrainment (BWE)

If you are familiar with brainwave entrainment, you will know that the normal method is to use binaural beats, but new studies have shown that infact the use of isochronic tone is more effective for brainwave entrainment.

What is isochronic tone? And how can it be more effective than binaural beats ?

While binaural beats use sound with different phase for different ear, isochronic tone is created by evenly space burst of tones. Because of this, entrainment using isochronic tone does not require the use of headphone.

One of the major shortcomings of binaural beats are that they require the use of both ears, and special speakers (headphone) assignment. The requirement to use both ears also limit the use with some methodologies which do specific are stimulus - not both side of the ears.

Isochronic tone also has its own shortcoming.
First, in order for isochronic to retain its full effect, both tones must have the same amplitude. Second, in order for them to produce any significant BWE isochronic tones must be at a suitable volume - loud enough for the listener to hear a noticeable modulation in the tones.

On higher level, isochronic tone falls under brainwave entrainment (BWE), not cortical evoked response (CER). What is the different between the two, you might ask?

In CER the stimulus is trigger less frequent - below four hertz (four times per second).
At this level the brain response does not fall into synchronization mode.
Once the frequency is faster as in isochronic tone, the brain start to follow the stimulus pattern.
When this happen, the stimulus is categorized as entrainment.

A counter partner method to isochronic tone is photic stimulation - where light instead of sound is used.
In photic stimulation normally a goggle with LEDs is used. The LEDs flashes in specific frequency like strobe lights.

New technologies in brainwave entrainment are trying to maximize the effect by using combination of both sound and sight in form of isochronic tone and photic stimulation together. This method is known as audio-video entrainment (AVE).

One of the earlier study on isochronic tone was done in 1981 by Artura Manns.
Before that most of the studies have been on the light stimulus - the photic stimulation effect.
The isochronic tone was used to treat patient with facial pain and jaw tension (TMJ dysfunction) and insomnia problem. As a result it is now common to use BWE to reduce risk of getting TMJ dysfunction during dental procedure.

here are a lot of tools in form of actual hardware and software that can generate some kind of isochronic tones for you. And there are many ready made isochronic tones CD sold on the internet, but you have to be very careful as there are cases where wrongly applied isochronic tones and photic stimulus cause seizure to the users.

Sa Wahid is an engineer by profession, but on his free time he is investigating how the brain works. If you are looking for an isochronic based CD to stimulate your brain, you will be interested with his own experience with this amazing package describe in detail at: dzikry.com/blog/2006/10/14/optimindzation-brainwave-entrainment-package