Hi Rob:
These sound files work by eliciting an effect called "binaural
beats." If you play a pure sound of a particular frequency in
one ear and a different pure (a.k.a sine-wave) sound of a
slightly different frequency in a different ear then the hearing
system combines them in such as fashion that you experience a
waxing and waning of the perceived loudness of the combined
sounds (or "beats").
(Actually you don't need to present the separate sounds to
separate ears to get a beat effect but the effect is of interest
because it occurs under this condition also.)
Here the argument from these folks. The frequency of the beat
depends on the difference in the sounds (150 Hz to left ear and
160 Hz to right ear produces a 10 Hz beat). Since the beat is
centrally produced (note sounds must be combined from separate
ears) then it is an experience produced "in the brain." So you
can drive the brain to increase the amount of certain frequency
ranges, in this case alpha frequencies, and thus increase
feelings of relaxation.
Whenever I read this argument I think of an article I read a long
time ago on enhancement of alpha frequencies. When a car motor
is cycling at 4000 Hz then that is an indicator of a car motor
working hard. But bombarding a car motor with 4000 Hz
frequencies is not going to make it produce much power.
Ken
---------------------------------------------------------------
Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [email protected]
Professor
Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
USA
---------------------------------------------------------------
Rob Weisskirch wrote:
In our morning paper, there was an article on certain music programs one
can download that use the same principles as a tuning fork and result in
feelings of euphoria similar to drug use. It's sound like a bunch of
hooey. But, I wanted to ask the TIPSfolk, if you've ever heard of it.
The company that makes the music is http://www.i-doser.com/
Here's the article:
For decades, parents, doctors and school administrators have worried
about the dangers of drugs. In the digital age, they've got a new arena
for concern: Sound waves that, some say, affect the brain like a drug —
and cost only 99 cents on iTunes and Amazon.com <http://amazon.com/>.
Many scientific experts say they're unfamiliar with "digital drugs" —
sometimes sold under the brand name I-Dosers — and doubt whether sound
patterns could have the same effect as chemical drugs. But some parents
— and at least one Oklahoma school system — worry that downloading these
sounds could be a teen's first step toward physical drugs.
As proof, they point to YouTube, where hundreds of videos — some of teen
"users" getting "high" — have been posted. On the I-Doser Facebook page,
users recommend tracks with comments such as, "Last night I did 'peyote'
and 'alter-x' and they really worked." The I-Doser free software is the
second most downloaded program in the science category on CNET.com
<http://cnet.com/>, with 6,500 downloads in a single recent week.
Parent Maria Christina Gonzalez of Kendall, Fla., found the I-Doser
program on her 15-year-old son's laptop. Though the teen told his mother
the sounds had no effect, she isn't sure what to think.
"I can't say I believe it or not unless I were to actually try it,"
Gonzalez said. "I don't dare."
Another Miami-Dade County mother, who requested her name not be used,
shared the same worry when she learned her son downloaded I-Dosers.
"He had the curiosity to search," she said. "It may not do any harm;
it's just one more thing to worry about."
Multiple agencies and research institutes contacted said they were
unfamiliar with I-Dosers. That includes the National Institute on Drug
Abuse, the South Florida D.A.R.E. program and the Miami Coalition for a
Safe and Drug-Free Community.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokesman John Schuster said school
counselors haven't seen I-Dosers as an issue but are keeping it on their
radar. The same was true for Broward County Public Schools, where Nadine
Drew said the schools' investigative unit is looking more into it.
Still, parents in the town of Mustang, Okla., were warned about I-Dosers
in March when the school superintendent there sent a letter saying some
students at Mustang High who listened to the sounds "exhibited the same
physical effects as if they were under the effects of drugs or alcohol,"
including increased blood pressure, rapid pulse and involuntary eye
movements.
It's no secret that sound can affect moods. Chants and waves have long
been used in relaxation and meditation. The bestseller "Musicophilla:
Tales of Music and the Brain" (Vintage, 2008), by Columbia University
neurologist and psychiatrist Oliver Sacks, documents the benefits of
music therapy on individuals with brain disorders, including stroke,
Alzheimer's and Parkinsons.
I-Dosers and other "digital drugs" typically sound like a low hum,
reminiscent of those constant horns at World Cup games, sometimes
punctuated with ocean sounds.
The science behind these particular sounds is binaural beats. The basic
concept is similar to a tuning fork: one frequency plays in the right
ear and a second, slightly different frequency plays in the left ear.
The mind creates a hum that's a balance between the two.
Though articles about binaural beats appeared in Scientific American as
early as 1975, the rhythms' effects on the brain remains hazy.
Groups like The Monroe Institute in Virginia, an organization that
promotes binaural beats as a way to meditate, say the beats they use
will get the brain's hemispheres synced to a particular wave.
"I don't know that anybody has ever proved technically how it works,"
said Paul Rademacher, executive director at Monroe Institute, who
started listening to binaural beats in 1997. The institute, a
not-for-profit organization, uses a brand of beats called Hemi-Sync
marketed by its affiliate, Monroe Products. He hasn't tried the I-Doser
brand of beats, he said.
Binaural beats were the basis of a 2005 University of South Florida
study on whether the sounds could improve focus among children and young
adults with ADHD. Results were inconclusive.
Yet I-Doser.com <http://i-doser.com/>'s site maintains its binaural
beats simulate the effects of drugs, alcohol and other feelings, such as
"first love" and "orgasm" — the site's bestseller. I-Doser sounds can be
downloaded as mp3 files on iTunes or Amazon, or they can be heard
through special software that reads .DRG — or drug — sound files.
Founded in 2005, I-Doser audio sequences have been downloaded more than
one million times, according to founder Nick Ashton of New York.
The site encourages users to spread the word — "become a dealer" — and
get 20 percent of sales. It also has links to sites selling marijuana —
"legal bud," "legal hash" — and mood enhancement pills.
Not all I-Doser branded sounds are drug related. Some say they can be
used for improving sleep or intensifying alertness, while others are
aimed at improving performance in role-playing video games.
For all, the goal is "simulated experiences," Ashton wrote in an e-mail.
These are accomplished through tests, including brainwave mapping and
user interviews to get the audio sequences to closely match how the
brain responds to an external stimuli.
"We don't release a sequence until we see close to 80 percent success
rate," Ashton said.
Although the sounds can be downloaded by anyone, the I-Doser site
includes a disclaimer saying that the sounds are for people older than 18.
"We have an age warning because some of our sequences can cause an
altered state of mind," Ashton said. "It is there so they are given
respect, as nobody should take their mind, or what it is capable of, for
granted."
Norman M. Weinberger, research professor of neurobiology and behavior at
UC Irvine and a specialist on music's effect on the brain, is skeptical
about the effects some groups claim.
"Certainly music and sound can alter mood," he wrote in an e-mail.
"Whether there are any long-term effects is another story. ... The main
problem is the general lack of both scientific investigation and solid
scientific findings that could support the claims. Anything that alters
behavior obviously acts through the brain, but the claims go far beyond
that."
And the idea of sounds mimicking drugs is "nonsense," said Paul Doering,
a professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida and
co-director of the Florida Drug Information and Pharmacy Resource Center.
"My overall reaction to this is it is the next in the series of
increasingly technologic ways for people to alter their minds, whether
its real or imagined," Doering said. "The power of suggestion is very
strong. Like the Ouija board. I could have sworn that thing was moving
around."
But that may not be the point.
Jose Szapocznik, chair of the department of epidemiology and public
health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that
while it's highly unlikely a digital drug can get someone chemically
addicted like a real drug, just having a teen download it should send up
red flags.
"When your child is looking for an altered state of consciousness
because they're bored, or because their world is painful for them ...
that's what parents should be worried about."
Gonzalez, the Kendall mother, agrees.
"It's irrelevant whether it works or not," she said. "It's that it's out
there and that its available to kids."
Rob Weisskirch, MSW. Ph.D.
Professor 90.77% Furlough 9.23%
Associate Professor of Human Development
Certified Family Life Educator
Liberal Studies Department
California State University, Monterey Bay
100 Campus Center, Building 82C
Seaside, CA 93955
(831) 582-5079
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
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