re mind machines in article c snww ga tripos com homer tripos com webster homer writes i recently learned about these devices that supposedly induce specific brain wave frequencies in their users simply by wearing them the principle underlying these devices is a well establish principle in psychology called entrainment whereby external sensory stimuli influence gross electrical patterns of brain function they are experimental in that people experiment with them and they are not widely if at all used in medicine for therapeutic purposes given the exception of tens and similar units used for external electrical stimulation usually for pain relief not really a light and sound machine they are not experimental in the sense of a specific medical category to that effect as with experimental drugs as the fda does not specifically regulate medical devices in the way it does pharmaceuticals i would think that if they work as reported they would be incredibly useful there are few reliable studies of therapeutic or enhancement effects for mind machines other than those relaxation related effects found with meditation or self hypnosis as well reported benefits are mostly anecdotal and subjective so far so it s hard to generalize about their potential value a pretty good general non technical introduction to a wide variety of these devices may be found in would the buddha wear a walkman some interesting background material names of suppliers and capsule reviews of specific equipment do these mind machines aka light and sound machines work can they induce alpha theta and or delta waves in a person wearing them what research if any has been done on them could they be used in lieu of a tranquilizer or are they just another bit of quackery a more important question might be whether they have enough additional value to be worth investing in biofeedback was found to be a legitimate and reliable effect experimentally under certain conditions in that it demonstrated that we can influence physiological processes previously considered purely autonomic but never panned out as a particularly valuable therapeutic tool because of the skill level required and the subtlety and temporary nature of the effects in most cases maybe someone else has more there used to be a whole mailing list devoted to mind machines somewhere on the net web homer homer tripos com kind regards todd todd i stark stark dwovax enet dec com digital equipment corporation philadelphia pa usa a word is the skin of a living thought olliver wendell holmes jr
