Research articles
This section contains a collection of shorter blog style articles on scientific research material.
Smart smells
Here's an interesting study on cognition and memory as it relates to our olfactory (smell) sense. Could our brain respond to fragrance by increasing cognitive performance? It...
Drinking coffee before sleep on purpose
Love coffee? Here's a neat way to use it to enhance your focus and alertness better than just what the caffeine alone can do. Caffeine sometimes gets blamed for ill health. But...
Anaesthesia blocks high frequency brainwaves
More evidence that too many high frequency brain waves can cause stress (over-excitation). One common drug does what years of meditation may do. And gives us clues as to how to...
DNA telomeres and ageing – the fountain of youth
Stress really can shorten your life. And science tells us why by looking at our DNA. Specifically by looking at what happens to a protective cell cap called a telomere. Avoiding...
Sleep deprivation hallucinations and serotonin effects
A lack of sleep can effect your brain in the same way as psychedelic magic mushrooms or LSD. That doesn't mean you should stay up all night to have a drug free trip though. Why...
Sugar, intelligence and brain activity
Forget where you put that chocolate? It may be the chocolates fault. An excess of sugar effects your memory and creativity. The science of brain wave activity tells us why. Do...
“I see red” – red light eye therapy update
'I see red' or I saw red, is one of those sayings that people use when they are angry. Red has long been associated with heightened arousal or warnings. Think stop lights and...
Eating a rainbow to help with ADHD
Could there really be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Yeah I know, it sounds weird right. But research into dietary sources of treatment for ADHD have found that...
Gamma stimulation and Alzheimer’s update: Human trials
Back in March of 2015.., brain researcher Li-Huei Tsai of MIT in Cambridge bathed Alzheimer’s suffering mice in 40Hz Gamma flickering light for a hour a day. To her disbelief,...
Dopamine is an antidote to fear & light exposure effects dopamine function
Dopamine is well known as the 'reward' neurochemical as we get a boost of it when we have an experience worthy of praise or pleasure. Research on dopamine's role in the body also...
Control your weight and extend your lifespan with selenium
If only there was a pill that allowed you to eat whatever you want and still be healthy and not get overweight. Well.., there just might be. And it might be simpler than you...
Protect your heart with Light
Another score for our friend light! It's not new to anyone that sunlight exposure is good for health and wellbeing and is responsible for most of the vitamin D production in our...
Intention alters brainwaves
Forgetting on purpose... What???... Research on patients with epilepsy whom had electrodes temporarily implanted near specific regions of the brain show that when we purposely...
How our eyes process images
Sight and Vision are often compared to a movie camera that records a scene. Light effects the sensor (rods and cones of the eye) and the information is sent to the microcomputer...
What causes the patterns in my mind?
One of the fascinating and enjoyable aspects of photic stimulation using stroboscopic light machines like the roXiva RX1 is the depth of colour, patterns and kaleidoscopic and...
Theta and Gamma brainwaves work together to organise brain communication and memory
Studies of patients with tiny electrodes implanted in their brains for purposes of seizure study and control, have shown a unique relationship between Theta brainwaves (4-8Hz)...
The brain can sense the earths magnetic field
Of course it can you say? Well it's been hard to prove because most tests have introduced inaccuracies into the equation and have therefore been inconclusive. We know animals can...
Slow brainwaves early sign of mental decline
More evidence of treating Alzheimer's with brainwave entrainment? I've seen more and more of this recently. The findings aren't new though. And it ties in with the research...
Using sound to measure brain activity
One of the challenges of measuring brain activity in order to get an accurate reading suitable for medical interventions for neurological or psychological conditions is that the...
Skin orgasms.., caused by music
Yes that's right, they are a thing. It's called Frisson. Like a type of synaesthesia where one sense becomes represented by another. For example sounds seen as colours in the...
Serotonin activation increases socialisation
Even in cases like autism where social withdrawal is common. It's true that when you feel good, you want to share that feeling with others. By using light sensitive nerve cells...
Seeking pleasure reduces happiness
It's tempting to think that pleasure leads to happiness, but in many cases that is not true. Just look at those who use a drug to induce pleasure and how over time their ability...
Some problems never feel solved
Interesting.., so research shows that as a problem either socially or personally gets solved, we tend to make what is included in the problem bigger and therefore not really...
Predicting and potentially halting Alzheimer’s with brainwaves
As medical science gains knowledge and ability at a rate unthought of half a century ago, our life expectancy extends further and further. At least physically that is true. What...
Detox your brain as you sleep
Most people with a basic knowledge of nutrition and most doctors now have only positive things to say about detoxing the body to remove toxins that build up over time. In some...
Random reward increases memory
Most learning if not all, is regulated by risk and reward. Almost every behaviour is either to gain pleasure or avoid pain. It makes total sense from an evolutionary perspective...
Relieving Parkinson’s with Beta brainwaves
This is some cool research. Of the various types of brainwaves we experience on a daily basis, beta waves (12 – 38 cycles per second approximately) are mostly present during...
Speech rate effects brainwaves
BE CAREFUL WHO YOU LISTEN TO... Ever found yourself finishing someone's...______? (sentence) Recent research shows that the rate at which someone talks effects the brain of those...
Near infrared light as a brain scanner
The red end of the light spectrum has a wavelength that starts at about 620nm (nano metres) and goes to about 750nm. Higher than that and it turns in to non visible light called...
Older people produce just as many new brain cells
It's a commonly held belief that as we age that we lose the ability to regenerate cells and tissues in our bodies and mind. In this extended research, healthy adults in the 60-90...
Memory takes 3.5 hours to consolidate
Revising learned information sooner than about 3.5 hours can negatively effect recall and change the memory itself. Interesting.So overlearning, doing 'all nighters' or trying...
Trees go to sleep and have a heartbeat
This is kind of cool. We know that trees breathe.. They have a respiration cycle that is similar but opposite in effect to us. We inhale a mix of gases.., absorb the oxygen..,...
Is meditation better than more sleep for improving sleep
That may sound like a strange question but bear with me. How do you get good at something? You practice it. How do you improve the quality of your deep sleep Delta states? By...
Gamma brainwaves as a lie detector
Haha, well almost... What this research has found is that there are predictable patterns of Gamma waves present not only during the successful coding of new information.., but...
Exercise and sleep improve memory retention
And as little as 15 minutes of exercise is enough! Cool; I think I can manage that. Haha Just 15 minutes of exercise straight after learning is enough to create a significant...
Lab grown brain cells start to produce brainwaves
This is part freaky in the sense that these experiments could actually become conscious.., and part exciting for the same reason. Using stem cells scientists have grown mini...
Gamma brainwaves and risk taking
Cool to see just how much Gamma plays a role in our brain function. This study was done with people with electrodes already implanted for study and regulation of epilepsy. The...
Light exposure maintains memory
The studies they do, lol. It seems even flies get friend zoned and depressed. 🙂 This study was done by having male flies rejected as potential mating partners by female flies....
Synchronising brainwaves and Autism
It seems that there is a common observable effect in the patterns of brainwaves in people with Autism. Alpha waves have been measured before in studies using people both with and...
Learning happens in the space between learning
This research is a lesson in being more relaxed about learning, memory and skill acquisition. While studying the brainwave states of people doing memory tasks by typing numbers...
Frequency does matter
Researchers have found an interesting and useful fact about stimulating the brain. This particular study is using probes actually implanted in the brain but the findings are...
Slow brainwaves clean the brain
Not all sleep is equal. And this research could be vital to helping people with age related mental decline. Research shows that deep non REM sleep activates brain activity that...
Slow brainwaves can jump gaps in the brain
The slowest of brainwave activity of less than 1Hz (1 pulse per second or slower) seems from recent studies to be able to influence brain cells near by without any connection...
Is red light OK in a bedroom at night
There are a number of products out there claiming that RED LEDs or glow lamps (usually above 620nm wavelength) are a good way of lighting your house or a bedroom without...
Increased cerebral/brain blood flow may help Alzheimer’s
And why is that relevant to roXiva RX1 use... The attached article is unrelated to brainwave entrainment (BWE) but the implications are valid. It shows the results of a blood...
Emotional change at the speed of light
Light therapy has long been used to attempt to help people with both mental and physical challenges. SAD lamps are now in common use to treat depression and studies have shown...
When is focus not actually focus
Haha, that got your attention. And that's what this research is about. It seems that what we consider to be a laser like focus is close to impossible and for good reasons. The...
The importance of darkness at night
Here's another interesting and almost alarming example of how too much light at night can have a negative effect on health. [NOTE: Although this study correctly identifies that a...
Do humans effect the Schumann resonance
Interesting article here that proposes that all physical and non physical effects of change and life are in a constant sine wave type of movement. From our heartbeat and other...
What you see can affect what you hear
Studies of adults and children show that there is a change in which sense is the default one used when recalling what was previously heard. Below the age of 10, it seems that...
Imagining future challenges improves the chance you’ll succeed
Thinking about future challenges to a goal in most cases will actually minimise the chances you'll give up on that goal. There's an effect in Psychology called 'Action Crisis'....
How touch effects brain activity
Measuring people with fMRI scientists have shown that brain activity is suppressed when we touch ourselves as opposed to being touched by others. This suppression starts as early...
Can you remember to forget
It is well established in the scientific community that memories are replayed and consolidated during sleep. In particular during our deepest non-REM stages of sleep. During this...
Brainwave entrainment at 14Hz can relieve depression
[Which happens to be the main frequency of the hybrid session called HAPPY] So many people have contacted me to thank me for this session alone, so I know from experience...
The location of emotion in the brain depends on hand dominance
A discussion on approach motivation. A very interesting piece of research with potential uses in helping to lower stress or increase motivation with brainwave entrainment....
Could synchronising brainwaves treat schizophrenia
Recent studies using mice and specific learning tasks have shown that when certain brain wave frequencies fall out of sync and lack coordination, the result is an inability to...
Alpha/Theta brainwave training as a treatment for alchoholism
This study was done with biofeedback rather than BWE but the implications are the same. The participants received 15 sessions of 15-30 minutes of Alpha/Theta brain training. The...
Can a virtual world replace a real one?
Forgive me for having a bit of a negative rant here... I don't usually share anything science related that I disagree with but this one I will because it's setting up a focus in...
Brainwaves into speech
Pretty cool use of EEG signals... Scientists are getting close to perfecting software that can turn brainwaves into speech. By calibrating a persons basic speech pattern such as...
Brainwaves after death
The field of Necro-neuroscience (study of brain activity just before and after death) is a very niche field. This particular finding shows continuing Alpha brain activity 10...
Brainwave entrainment ultimate guide
From binaural beats and isochronic tones to photic light machines and Audio Visual brainwave entrainment (AVE) devices, the use of brainwave entrainment (BWE) has many claims...
Brain controlled web surfing
This is soo cool... Using an implanted neural detector and decoder; paralysed volunteers are able to send emails to their friends, play music on youtube and buy products online....
Brain blood flow and mental decline
This latest research backs up the idea that Alzheimer's may be a result of less blood flow in the brain. This may be the real reason that the plaques commonly talked about as...
Boosting cognitive performance with light and sound
This study paper shows an experiment done with children (screened for safety concerns) to see if performance in mental tasks including memory, attention and other factors could...
Autistic children have less Gamma brain frequencies
Note: We do not recommend the use of any brainwave or audio visual entrainment device with young children without their doctors permission. This study backs up previous ones that...
Altered states, rituals and healing
Although drug induced trance states have been around for thousands of years.., there are a number of non drug induced practices that have been around that long also. ...
Alpha stimulation improves creativity
EEG studies and measurements of highly creative people have shown a consistently high level of Alpha brain activity compared to people who according to recognised creativity...
Advances in brainwave measuring.
Typical current ways of measuring brainwaves have limitations. Electrodes on the outside of the skull cannot accurately measure past the 'noise' of the brain surface to measure...
A brief history of light induced hallucinations
Modern use of flickering light has the advantage of precise and controllable fast reaction LED's. But the history of the fascination with flicker induced visual hallucinations is...
Advanced use of lasers to scan the brain
This research paper is a heavy read so don't bother unless you like this stuff but this is quite a cool development. I will summarise it here. The great thing about laser light...