The effectiveness of Audio-Visual Stimulation (AVS) lies in the electrical rhythms of your own brain. These electrical rhythms respond to the rhythms of light and sound in your environment. This natural phenomenon is called the frequency following response or brainwave entrainment (BWE).
AVS training uses these abilities to teach your brain to work more efficiently. You can more easily change your brainwave activity to suit the task at hand. For example, you want slower brainwave activity when you sleep and faster brainwave activity to focus your attention.
Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation
One obvious auditory rhythm is music. Notice how you respond to the beat of a marching band or of a polka. The music seems to stimulate some part of your body, perhaps your foot or your head, to bounce in time with the music. You are probably inclined to make fast, quick movements to the beats of this music.
Supporting Brain Activity with Audio-Visual Stimulation (AVS)
Audio-Visual Stimulation is a useful tool for such a wide range of problems because it can be tailored to your personal situation. It is a flexible, natural, lasting method that teaches you how to guide your own brainwave activity to an efficient level of functioning. Thus, it empowers you to take control of your wellness and learn how to address problems when they start.
"AVS training teaches you how to use your brain more efficiently,
meaning you can more easily change your brainwave activity
to suit the task at hand."
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In contrast, notice your response to a waltz or to a lullaby. When you listen to this slower music, you are probably inclined to make long, smooth movements. What a different response this is from the fast, sharp movements you make with marches or polkas.
With modern technology you can hear one pitch, or frequency, in one ear and a slightly different pitch, or frequency in your other. This difference in pitch stimulates auditory activity in your brain so that you actually hear a third pitch. This brain exercise is called binaural beat or hemisynch and is one component of AVS.
Rhythmic Visual Stimulation
You have many, many neural pathways for seeing. Great portions of your brain are interactive and respond to light and vision.
Highway engineers have become especially aware of the effect
of visual rhythms on drivers. They are careful to keep reflectors along the roadside from setting up rhythms that would stimulate drivers to get sleepy while they drive.
Here is another example of rhythmic visual stimulation: Have you ever ridden across a bridge with beams across the top and
been enchanted by the flicker the beams set up with the light
and sky above? Or, have you ever noticed how babies like to
stare at moving fans? They enjoy watching the flickering effect of fast-moving fan blades.
These are all examples of what’s called “frequency following response”. Actually, the ancient Greeks noted the effects of visual flicker as early as 125 AD. They noticed that people often began to daydream or get sleepy when sitting around a flickering fire. This phenomenon is still true today. Since the flicker rate of fire light is rather slow, when you gaze in to a flickering fire, your brain activity tends to slow. This is why you might find yourself relaxing or even yawning around a kindling camp fire or a cozy fireplace.
Using Audio-Visual Stimulation for Brainwave Entrainment
The effects of combining rhythmic AVS have been clinically shown to guide or “entrain” a range of brainwave patterns that relieve disorders including ADHD, substance abuse, fibromyalgia, chronic pain and rehabilitation after strokes. AVS has also contributed to students making better grades in school. More and more research is showing why AVS is so effective and indicating directions for broader applications.
Types of Brainwave Entrainment Instrumentation
There are two main types of AVS instrumentation. For home training, you may use an AVS unit with pre-programmed sets of light and sound frequencies. These preset programs determine the rate of audio and visual stimulation, which is transmitted through headphones and glasses with light emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted on each lens. Then, you close your eyes and watch changing light patterns in the glasses while you listen to changing sound patterns through the headphones. This special brain activation takes approximately 20 to 40 minutes and you do it once or twice a day.
The effects accumulate so that they are longer and longer lasting. With enough training, people can even reach a new level of functioning. This means they may be able to reduce the symptoms of certain disorders such as sleeplessness and chronic pain. It has even been reported that people who suffered a stroke can increase their range of motion.
An AVS unit is a sound investment because it serves many purposes. It is not limited to training your brain in wellness matters. It is also effective at improving your peak performance, concentration and memory. However, an at-home AVS unit can still be complicated because it is sophisticated technology. That’s why it’s important for people who invest in one to come into a professional biofeedback clinic, such as Smarter Way, to have the programs calibrated to their individual needs.
Some biofeedback clinics use a technique called “EEG-driven light and sound” or EDLSS. In this situation, your own brainwaves determine the variable frequency of light and sound stimulation.
Please Note: All products and resources used on this site are provided for informational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice or as a substitute for treatment or consultation with your healthcare professional who is familiar with these technologies.
Caution: People who should usually avoid Audio-Visual Stimulation (AVS) include people with serious, chronic effects of head injuries, psychiatric illness, or seizure activity.
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