The brain is always the center of electrical activity, and when measured with an electroencephalogram (EEG), it reveals certain patterns in the form of periodically oscillating brain wave activity. Even when we are calm, relaxed, or meditating, our brain waves tend to vibrate between 8 and 12 Hz (the alpha wave spectrum).
Each person has their own specific alpha wave frequency within this range, according to Professor Zoe Kourtzi, senior author of a new study published in the journal. cerebral cortex – And if you can synchronize your entire brain at this frequency, you can dramatically accelerate your learning performance.
“We simulated these fluctuations, so the brain was attuned to itself and in the best condition to thrive,” says Kourtzi. It is the ability to learn by reconstructing things, continuously building up previous patterns of neuronal interactions.By harnessing brain wave rhythms, it enhances flexible learning throughout life, from infancy to adulthood. It is possible.”
Cambridge University
Kourtzi and a team of neuroscientists obtained EEG readings from 80 study participants and found each subject’s unique alpha wave frequency. Then I created a “light pulse”. This is a flashing white square on your computer screen that is tuned to match your individual alpha waves exactly.
They exposed subjects to these pulses for 1.5 seconds, hypothesizing that this “tuned” brain activity into a more synchronized state. Subjects were then given a rapid cognitive task in which they had to select a specific shape from a visually chaotic mess. Each subject repeated this exercise 800 times, and different groups included correct frequencies synchronized to the peaks of the EEG readings, correct frequencies synchronized to the troughs of the EEG readings, random waves, or deliberately slightly adjusted waves. I was given a wave. too slow or too fast.
The ‘learning rates’ at which these groups improved performance were fundamentally different, with subjects given the correct frequencies performing best in the EEG troughs. This group improved at least three times faster than the control group and maintained their performance gains the day after repeated exercise.
“The intervention itself is very simple, just a momentary flickering of the screen,” said co-author Elizabeth Michael, PhD. “
Cambridge University
“We feel like we’re always paying attention to the world, but in reality, our brains take quick snapshots and neurons communicate with each other to piece together information,” said the co-authors. Professor Victoria Leon of NTU and Cambridge Pediatrics said: “Our hypothesis is that matching information transmission to the optimal stage of the brainwaves allows us to capture the most information, because this is the time when our neurons are most excitable.” am.”
In fact, this kind of brainwave entrainment may resemble the way adults talk to children. “When adults speak to young children, they employ child-friendly speech, which is slow and exaggerated,” says Leong. “This study suggests that child-directed speech may be a spontaneous way to rate-match and entrain children’s slower brain waves to support learning.”
The team says the technology is likely to work in a wide range of situations and tasks, and may work well with very affordable EEG headgear. “But now we have a simple headband system that makes it very easy to measure brain frequencies,” says Kourtzi.
The research is open access in peer-reviewed journals cerebral cortex.
Source: University of Cambridge
