4 ms·

There was a RadioLab special on this a few years ago: https://www.wnyc.org/story/flashing-light-therapy-alzheimers/ https://www.wnyc.org/story/flashing-light-t

There was a RadioLab special on this a few years ago: https://www.wnyc.org/story/flashing-light-therapy-alzheimers/ https://www.wnyc.org/story/flashing-light-therapy-alzheimers...

pmoriarty 8y ago
After hearing this intriguing RadioLab episode some months back, I started searching around youtube for 40 Hz tones and found quite a lot of videos of all kinds that use those and other tones allegedly related to various brain waves (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc). I listened to a whole bunch of these videos, and while I wasn't measuring my memory, I did pay close attention to how the sounds made me feel, and this one particular made me feel strangest: [1]. Unfortunately, the sound fades in and out and the effect goes with it. I wish it could have had stayed at a steady volume so that the effect could be sustained. If you watch it, just ignore the cheesy graphics and listen. Here are some other interesting ones: [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] Video [3] is actually supposedly 40 Hz. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eTVW8VMRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eTVW8VMRQ [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG22hV-gMsY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG22hV-gMsY [3] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGHbKWGgH_E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGHbKWGgH_E [4] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhZPMTpW-gg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhZPMTpW-gg [5] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-yz8l4Do-U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-yz8l4Do-U [6] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lN3X5qVoqQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lN3X5qVoqQ
- louthy 8y ago
  [3] is definitely not 40hz. 40hz is in the sub-bass range, which this clearly isn't. I'm not at home in my studio right now, so I can't measure what it is, but if I was to guess it would be around 200hz. The ones that are 20hz might make you feel a bit weird because there's not much amateur audio equipment that would do anything other than distort at that low end of the frequency range. It does say binaural though, so maybe it's panning left/right at 40hz rather than playing a sound-wave at 40hz. If that's the case it's not the same as what the article states: "40 hertz tone". Here's an online tone generator [1] that will play a sine-wave at 40hz. [1] https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/ https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/
  - roywiggins 8y ago
    A lot of the binaural stuff try to set up "beats" by playing a slightly different frequency to each ear. Neither frequency is 40Hz, but the beat frequency may be. There's an absolute shedload of woo-woo stuff on the purported consciousness-enhancing benefits if you google around. That's not to say they definitely don't do funny things to your brain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(acoustics)#Binaural_beats https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(acoustics)#Binaural_beat...
    - duskwuff 8y ago
      > There's an absolute shedload of woo-woo stuff on the purported consciousness-enhancing benefits if you google around. Oh god, yes, and it isn't even new. Back around 2005, I ran into a web site selling audio files which they claimed would cure addictions, attract romantic partners, improve luck...
      - joezydeco 8y ago
        And, twenty years before that, this group claimed that binaural "synchronization" of the hemispheres of the brain could lead to out-of-body travel. https://www.monroeinstitute.org/ https://www.monroeinstitute.org/ I think they've backed down on some of those claims over the last 30 years, but they'll be happy to take your money for a 5 day onsite retreat.
    - pmoriarty 8y ago
      "That's not to say they definitely don't do funny things to your brain." Exactly. I actually just went in to Ardour and edited down that one "20 Hz" video I mentioned made me feel weird [1] so that it played the loudest part continuously instead of fading in and out, and then listened to it again and after 5 or 10 minutes of listening to it I felt really weird again, and started to get worried about what it might be doing to me, so I stopped. It's really interesting, though, and I hope some serious research is conducted on this sort of sound's psychological effects. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eTVW8VMRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eTVW8VMRQ
  - 8y ago
- simongr3dal 8y ago
  That first video definitely is giving me a strange sensation too, it's like my ears and nose are vibrating in response to the "beats" of the audio.

There was a RadioLab special on this a few years ago: https://www.wnyc.org/story/flashing-light-therapy-alzheimers/ https://www.wnyc.org/story/flashing-light-therapy-alzheimers...

pmoriarty 8y ago

After hearing this intriguing RadioLab episode some months back, I started searching around youtube for 40 Hz tones and found quite a lot of videos of all kinds that use those and other tones allegedly related to various brain waves (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc). I listened to a whole bunch of these videos, and while I wasn't measuring my memory, I did pay close attention to how the sounds made me feel, and this one particular made me feel strangest: [1]. Unfortunately, the sound fades in and out and the effect goes with it. I wish it could have had stayed at a steady volume so that the effect could be sustained. If you watch it, just ignore the cheesy graphics and listen. Here are some other interesting ones: [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] Video [3] is actually supposedly 40 Hz. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eTVW8VMRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eTVW8VMRQ [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG22hV-gMsY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG22hV-gMsY [3] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGHbKWGgH_E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGHbKWGgH_E [4] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhZPMTpW-gg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhZPMTpW-gg [5] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-yz8l4Do-U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-yz8l4Do-U [6] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lN3X5qVoqQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lN3X5qVoqQ

louthy 8y ago
[3] is definitely not 40hz. 40hz is in the sub-bass range, which this clearly isn't. I'm not at home in my studio right now, so I can't measure what it is, but if I was to guess it would be around 200hz. The ones that are 20hz might make you feel a bit weird because there's not much amateur audio equipment that would do anything other than distort at that low end of the frequency range. It does say binaural though, so maybe it's panning left/right at 40hz rather than playing a sound-wave at 40hz. If that's the case it's not the same as what the article states: "40 hertz tone". Here's an online tone generator [1] that will play a sine-wave at 40hz. [1] https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/ https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/
- roywiggins 8y ago
  A lot of the binaural stuff try to set up "beats" by playing a slightly different frequency to each ear. Neither frequency is 40Hz, but the beat frequency may be. There's an absolute shedload of woo-woo stuff on the purported consciousness-enhancing benefits if you google around. That's not to say they definitely don't do funny things to your brain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(acoustics)#Binaural_beats https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(acoustics)#Binaural_beat...
  - duskwuff 8y ago
    > There's an absolute shedload of woo-woo stuff on the purported consciousness-enhancing benefits if you google around. Oh god, yes, and it isn't even new. Back around 2005, I ran into a web site selling audio files which they claimed would cure addictions, attract romantic partners, improve luck...
    - joezydeco 8y ago
      And, twenty years before that, this group claimed that binaural "synchronization" of the hemispheres of the brain could lead to out-of-body travel. https://www.monroeinstitute.org/ https://www.monroeinstitute.org/ I think they've backed down on some of those claims over the last 30 years, but they'll be happy to take your money for a 5 day onsite retreat.
  - pmoriarty 8y ago
    "That's not to say they definitely don't do funny things to your brain." Exactly. I actually just went in to Ardour and edited down that one "20 Hz" video I mentioned made me feel weird [1] so that it played the loudest part continuously instead of fading in and out, and then listened to it again and after 5 or 10 minutes of listening to it I felt really weird again, and started to get worried about what it might be doing to me, so I stopped. It's really interesting, though, and I hope some serious research is conducted on this sort of sound's psychological effects. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eTVW8VMRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eTVW8VMRQ
- 8y ago
simongr3dal 8y ago
That first video definitely is giving me a strange sensation too, it's like my ears and nose are vibrating in response to the "beats" of the audio.