Psychomantium Mirrors - Past, Present, Future?

[Persej]

When we look at further studies about alpha waves, we can see that alpha waves are increased during the focused internal attention and also during the creative cognition and memory load.

Examining the functional significance of EEG alpha and beta activity, Ray and Cole (1985) found that alpha power is lower in sensory-intake tasks (i.e., tasks that rely on processing of external stimuli, such as counting verbs in a passage or the paper folding task) as compared to intake-rejection tasks (i.e., tasks that do not require processing of external sensory stimuli, such as mental arithmetic or imagination of an imaginary walk). They suggested that alpha activity reflects attentional demands and is higher for tasks with internal attention focus than for tasks with external attention focus.

Other research using short-term memory tasks found alpha activity to increase as a function of memory load (Jensen et al., 2002; Klimesch et al., 1999). It was proposed that alpha increases may reflect active top-down inhibition of task irrelevant brain regions, such as inhibition of access to semantic long-term memory (Klimesch et al., 1999), or inhibition or disengagement of visual areas to suppress the processing of irrelevant visual information (Jensen et al., 2002).

Alpha activity thus plays an important role for attention by supporting processes within the attentional focus and blocking processes outside its focus.

Over the last years, task-related increases in alpha activity have also been consistently observed during performance of divergent thinking tasks (i.e., creative idea generation tasks; Fink and Benedek, 2013, in press). For example, in the alternate uses task (a task also commonly used in psychometric research on creative potential; Benedek, Mühlmann, Jauk, and Neubauer, 2013; Kaufman, Plucker, and Baer, 2008) participants are asked to generate creative new uses for common objects such as a “shoe”. Performance of this and other divergent thinking tasks consistently results in task-related power (TRP) increases in the alpha band as compared to a pre-task reference period.

These findings suggest that creative cognition is reliably associated with increased alpha power levels in the brain (for a review, see Fink and Benedek, 2013, in press).

Alpha power increases in right parietal cortex reflects focused internal attention - PubMed

This study investigated the functional significance of EEG alpha power increases, a finding that is consistently observed in various memory tasks and specifically during divergent thinking. It was previously shown that alpha power is increased when tasks are performed in mind-e.g., when...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Together, this suggests that relatively higher EEG alpha activity is not just an effect of task difficulty but may rather resemble an effect of memory load. IDC tasks require to keep all relevant information in working memory, which typically implies increased memory load. In fact, posterior alpha activity has been shown to linearly increase with memory load in a short-term memory task (Jensen et al., 2002). As memory load increases, attention needs to be focused internally more exclusively (Chatham & Badre, 2015), and alpha synchronization may serve the function of inhibition of task-irrelevant areas (Jensen & Mazaheri, 2010). Hence, posterior alpha activity during IDC is assumed to represent functional inhibition of visual processing to shield ongoing internal processing (Benedek, 2018; Jensen et al., 2012; Klimesch, 2012).

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/brb3.1790

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165017311000233

EEG alpha activity reflects attentional demands, and beta activity reflects emotional and cognitive processes - PubMed

Two experiments were designed to examine the effects of attentional demands on the electroencephalogram during cognitive and emotional tasks. We found an interaction of task with hemisphere as well as more overall parietal alpha for tasks not requiring attention to the environment, such as...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

EEG activity during cognitive processing: influence of attentional factors - PubMed

The research draws upon two separate areas of inquiry: that of lateralized electrocorical processing of cognitive material; and that of psychophysiological information processing studies related to foci of attentional demands. Eighteen subjects on each of three separate days were presented with...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

EEG correlates of emotional tasks related to attentional demands - PubMed

This research brings together two separate areas: that of EEG processes associated with positive and negatively valenced emotional material; and that of traditional psychophysiological research related to the "intake" and "rejection" of environmental stimuli. Forty males on each of two days were...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Having this in mind, one wonders if Gurdjieff's exercises in self-remembering were supposed to increase the alpha waves in human brain, because self-remembering forces people to keep the internal attention while also having the attention to the outside world?

And what about alchemists and their creative word games? Beside serving a purpose of having a secret language that would not be accessible to the outsiders, what if the other purpose of such allegorical writing could also be to increase the alpha waves through creative cognition?

And what about the practice of ancient people of memorizing entire songs? What if the purpose of that is not simply to keep the mind in "good shape", but also to increase the alpha waves through increased memory load?

One of the exercises that Castaneda suggested is that at the end of the day, you go over everything that you experienced that day. Well, that is another mental activity that scientists used to increase the alpha waves because it requires internal attention.

Are all of these things connected to the alpha brainwaves? Are alpha brainwaves the key to alchemical transmutation?

 

[Persej]

Here is another very interesting study where we find this:

Ethanol was also found to modify the feeling states of the men in this study, with subjects reporting feeling 'high' following ethanol consumption. Lucas et al. (1986), in a very well controlled study, demonstrated that increased alpha activity post ethanol consumption was most prominent at the time when subjects reported feeling intense pleasure or euphoria.

We attempted to divide our population into two groups depending on the amount of power in their fast frequency alpha range. It was subsequently found that subjects with higher amounts of fast frequency alpha, while not differing on quantity and frequency of drinking, did display a less intense response to ethanol. Subjects with more fast alpha reported significantly less intense feelings of 'high' as well as less overall feelings of intoxication post consumption. Thus, a subject's background EEG was correlated with how 'high' the subject felt in response to low dose ethanol challenge. Subjects with high amounts of fast alpha also had more stable EEGs at baseline. These data may have some relevance to the understanding of individual responses to ethanol, as it appears that persons with more fast alpha may be resistant to the state changes produced by ethanol.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0013469489901181

In other words, how will you react to something that can increase alpha waves depends on what kind of brainwaves you have as a baseline. Which means that if you want to do or take something that can increase alpha waves, you first need to increase your slow alpha. And you do this by doing some mental work. Like reading romance novels. Or solving cryptic crosswords.

Cryptic crossword - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Grounded Expertise Components Approach in the Novel Area of Cryptic Crossword Solving

This paper presents a relatively unexplored area of expertise research which focuses on the solving of British-style cryptic crossword puzzles. Unlike its American “straight-definition” counterparts, which are primarily semantically-cued ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Persej]

And here we have a great explanation of what was happening in the brain of alchemists when they were trying to solve the cryptic alchemical texts and why those texts were designed in such way in the first place:

Significance​

“Taking a less-traveled path” is often considered an effective approach to creativity (i.e., creative thinking calls for a break from habitual thinking and associations), yet little is known about its underlying neural mechanism. In a series of four independent experiments involving electrophysiological and brain stimulation methods we provide evidence that this process is mediated by the right temporal alpha oscillations. Alpha oscillations are known to represent a process of active inhibition to suppress irrelevant information, such as inhibiting distractions during visual search. Through monitoring the brain’s electrical activity during different creativity tasks and by stimulating the right temporal brain region at the alpha frequency we show that a similar process of active inhibition is also key to creative thinking.

Abstract​

Creative cognition requires mental exploration of remotely connected concepts while suppressing dominant ones. Across four experiments using different samples of participants, we provide evidence that right temporal alpha oscillations play a crucial role in inhibiting habitual thinking modes, thereby paving the way for accessing more remote ideas. In the first experiment, participants completed the compound remote associate task (RAT) in three separate sessions: during right temporal alpha (10 Hz) transcranial alternating current brain stimulation (tACS), left temporal alpha tACS, and sham tACS. Participants performed better under right tACS only on RAT items in which two of the three words shared misleading semantic associations. In the second experiment, we measured EEG while the participants solved RAT items with or without shared misleading associations. We observed an increase in right temporal alpha power when participants correctly solved RAT items with misleading semantic associations. The third experiment demonstrated that while solving divergent thinking tasks participants came up with more remote ideas when stimulated by right temporal alpha tACS. In the fourth experiment, we found that participants showed higher right temporal alpha power when generating more remote uses for common objects. These studies altogether indicate that right temporal alpha oscillations may support creativity by acting as a neural mechanism for an active inhibition of obvious semantic associations.

(...)

Creative thinking involves searching through a clutter of associated concepts or ideas, and the presence of obvious associations is a distraction from the desired creative solution (e.g., finding unusual uses for an object or finding a remote association); such obvious but misleading associations need to be actively inhibited for producing more creative associations. Here we tested the hypothesis that alpha oscillatory activity enables us to inhibit the most obvious associations to get to more remote ideas. Considering the key role of alpha oscillations in the active inhibition of distractions in both visual search (8, 9) and working memory tasks (10), we hypothesized that this process of actively inhibiting obvious or strong associations could be mediated by an increase in alpha oscillations as it occurs when inhibiting other internal or external distractors.

Discussion​

In this paper we provide evidence supporting the role of right temporal alpha oscillations in creative cognition. We suggest that alpha oscillations in the right temporal brain region shape inhibition of the most common or obvious associations. We presented evidence in support of this hypothesis in four separate experiments. In our first experiment, we observed that right temporal alpha tACS was most beneficial for those RAT items that required participants to override prominent but wrong candidate solutions, indicating that right temporal alpha oscillations play a critical role in the ability to override habitual, but misleading, associations. In a second experiment, we observed higher right temporal alpha power while the subjects were trying to solve RAT items with shared wrong associations. In a third experiment, we observed that the right temporal tACS at the IAF was associated with an increase in remoteness of uses in an alternative uses task, but not in cleverness or general creativity. In a fourth experiment, we observed that the participants showed higher right temporal IAF when they were generating items with higher compared with lower remoteness. Altogether, our results provided robust evidence supporting the hypothesis that right temporal alpha oscillations are involved in actively inhibiting strong semantic associations in both convergent and divergent thinking tasks. In the remainder of this discussion, we consider the principal ways our findings critically advance our understanding of the role of alpha oscillations in creative cognition, its neurophysiological mechanisms, and the limitations in our approach.

First, our findings support the hypothesis that right-lateralized alpha is a core feature of creative cognition, which might underlie our capacity to override strong semantic associations that are shaped by prior experience. Our results also support the hypothesis that exploration is mediated through active inhibition. This idea was put forward by Baror and Bar (7), who observed that when the cognitive load was high participants tended to fail in suppressing stronger semantic associations. Alpha oscillations have earlier been linked to the process of active inhibition (35): They do not merely signalize idle activity, but an energy consuming suppression process. Our study provides evidence suggesting that right temporal alpha oscillations may be critical to the inhibition of strong semantic associations.

(...)

For instance, if we need to generate alternative uses of a glass, first we must inhibit our past experience leading to think of a glass as a container. Our study demonstrates that right temporal alpha oscillations are linked with overriding these strong associations in both convergent and divergent thinking.

(...)

In summary, we provided robust evidence that the right temporal alpha oscillations play a critical role in the ability to override habitual, but misleading, associations during creative problem solving. Taking a less-traveled path is often considered an effective path to creativity (i.e., creative thinking calls for a break from habitual thinking and associations), and our findings support that the underlying cognitive mechanisms are served by the temporal alpha oscillations. To understand the processes underlying the production of novel and adequate ideas, we need to break down its constituent processes, dissecting creativity as much as possible at first, and then analyzing them in context, putting them back together through careful consilience.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1811465115

In other words, it's all about increasing the alpha waves in the brain.

 

[Persej]

So, as we have learned, the alpha waves are used for inhibition or suppression of various stimuli. And one thing that comes to mind when thinking about suppression is the suppression of expression of negative emotions that gnostics talked about. Could alpha waves also be involved in such thing? It seems that they are.

The Importance of Low-frequency Alpha (8−10 Hz) Waves and Default Mode Network in Behavioral Inhibition

Alpha wave of electroencephalography (EEG) is known to be related to behavioral inhibition. Both the alpha wave and default mode network (DMN) are predominantly activated during resting-state. To study the mechanisms of the trait inhibition, this research ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Laura talked about the suppression of expression of negative emotions:

Mouravieff tells us that adjustment of our energy is indispensable to esoteric work. This adjustment concerns the transmutation of negative emotions, which are the means by which the "destructive force" acts in man.

​

It is not an exaggeration to say that negative emotions are mainly responsible for the fact that human beings age and die prematurely. To combat old age and death, one must combat the negative emotions in oneself. ...When treated according to precise rules founded on a strenuous psychical discipline, these very same emotions, though harmful, can become an abundant source of the fine, active energies whose presence is NECESSARY for the development of the Personality. [...]

The scriptures and the commentators of the first centuries of our era insist on the IMPORTANCE OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS and on the attitude we should take to them. They recommend a positive reaction and a joyful attitude towards people who are malicious towards us.

It is at this point of his evolution that the seeker will find the obvious utility of those who are hostile to him. As long as he is on the Staircase it is in INSULTS, HATE, JEALOUSY, TREACHERY and the CONTEMPT of other men that the seeker finds the elements, which are necessary for him.

By dominating the mechanical reactions that the reproaches and attacks of others may produce in him, someone who struggles between the Two Thresholds separates and rejects the elements which are parasites on the fine energy mobilized by negative emotions. The seeker finds in this struggle the source of energy that is indispensable to him. [Boris Mouravieff ]​

Now, please notice that there is a very subtle thing in the above comments that is very easily misunderstood and twisted. What is important to understand is that the emotional center of man has a positive half and a negative half. The essential work of the Seeker is the "tuning" of the emotional center because this is the center that merges with the magnetic center and forms the link to the higher centers.

Many seekers are of the "knightly type" and their emotional center is "awake," but it is very imbalanced. The very important POSITIVE work of the negative half of the emotional center is not functioning - it has been put to sleep and the positive half has become exaggerated and it's energy is misused for the creation of lies and fantasies that "feel good." We have been taught that negative emotions are "bad," and this is completely incorrect.

The positive work of the negative part of the emotional center is to react to lies and unpleasantness which serves as a "warning system" to the organism. It is supposed to "react" to disagreeable shocks from without and within. This is the entire point of Castañeda's discourse on Petty Tyrants. The attacks of insult, hate and jealousy, treachery, and contempt evoke energies in our systems that can be UTILIZED in a positive, creative way. The precept to "love one's enemies" proceeds from the knowledge that we are NOT to flee from our negative emotions. Nor are we to suppress or repress or reject them.

The positive part of our emotional center responds to agreeable impressions. The role of negative emotions is not really negative. The purpose of negative emotions is that they serve as awakening alarms. Their dynamism communicates to the individual things that force him to ACT.

If the negative half of our emotional center is not awake, its normal role is not being fulfilled and our affective life is impoverished and disoriented. It is the same as not being able to distinguish between heat and cold or dark and light. The functioning of the negative emotions is an indispensable part of the emotional make-up.

When it is asleep because we have been programmed that having negative reactions is "not okay," the energy of this center is utilized in destructive ways. This can take a number of forms: it can be suppressed or repressed, resulting in harm to the health of the organism. It can be uncontrolled, resulting in discord in families, and giving the human masses impulses that push them to excesses: revolution, war, fighting, etc. Or, even more dangerous, this energy can be utilized by the emotional center in its innate capacity for dreaming to create lies and illusions.

This means that, when a "shock" comes to the organism from either outside or inside, because of our programming that we are not supposed to have negative emotions, this energy flooding the system, is generally used to "patch up" our reality - to draw us into lies and false beliefs that lock us more firmly into the Matrix.

However, the person who fully understands the work of negative emotions, knows that there is a USE for them, and that they are the "fuel" for ACTION, for discovering truth and exposing lies either to the self or to others.

The trick is to not allow the negative emotions to activate either the moving center which tends to respond with negative actions, or the intellectual center which tends to respond with negative thoughts toward the "shock." This results in a "feeding" of the source of the shock and a draining of the energy of the organism.

Instead, the pure energy of the negative emotions must be observed and controlled like an untamed horse so that its energy pulls the rest of the organism where it wants to go.

This means constant observation of the self during periods of "shocks." At the moment of the arising of the negative emotion, within the instant of its arousal, it is possible to disassociate the components of the emotion - to separate the "shock" from not only the initiator, but from the programmed reaction - and to liberate the pure energy and concentrate it and USE it positively. The result of this technique is a direct connection to the higher centers which results in an inflow of tremendous energy into the organism that lights up the emotional center like a flashing neon sign, and the SENSATION is pure JOY.

This is only possible with knowledge.

A practical example of this is the writing of the Adventures Series, as I have already noted. Instead of being angry at the source of the shocks, the insults, the lies, the treachery, the hate, contempt and jealousy, the energy was transformed via gathering and sharing knowledge.

Another way of explaining this process we have learned from the C's is that when we are attacked, it shocks our emotional center. This produces a "contact potential difference" in us that inducts enormous amounts of cosmic energy into our organism. Because the nature of the shock activates the negative emotional center, we have a problem if our negative emotional center has not be "trained" by long exposure to training that concerns handling negative emotions.

If we have spent our lives trying to suppress or repress or avoid negative experiences, if we have spent our lives trying to find "beliefs" that will keep the negative emotions asleep, we have no means of understanding how to control and utilize this enormous energy. The energy will flood our organism and will turn our thoughts to ideas of "revenge" or acts of hatefulness - telling lies to ourselves or others, using filthy language, acting against another in a violent or vicious way. This then "feeds" the Matrix.

Among the common lies we use to try to "patch up" or avoid negative emotions are such things as "let's all get along," which leads to "backing down" and turning away from the negative experience in order to just cover it up and "make nice." This lie completely deprives us of one of the greatest means of accomplishing our goal of ascension! And of course, this lie has been twisted to mean that we are somehow supposed to "give love to" our enemies even in the face of vile and vicious attacks from them! Nothing could be further from the truth!

What this means is, if the individual has the knowledge of how this energy can actually be utilized, he will not so quickly run from confrontation and proper interaction with, and response to, those things that stimulate the negative half of the emotional center. He will, effectively, turn the other cheek for another slap so as to induce even more energy into his organism for his utilization. He will, as Don Juan suggested, engage in systematic harassment of the Petty Tyrant for the very purpose of producing more and greater "shocks."

Because the fact is, the cosmic energy that is induced into the organism by activation of the negative emotions is POSITIVE energy from the Feminine Creative Center that is only "twisted" by the distorted state of the emotional center itself. This energy that floods the body at the "arising of anger" or "outrage" is PURE Cosmic ENERGY. It makes the emotional center vibrate with a very rapid rhythm. And, just as the energy of the wild horse, if it is tamed and harnessed, can pull a wagon a great distance, so can the tremendous energy of negative emotions TUNE the centers of the body, producing the bridge of contact between the lower centers and the higher centers.

In short, a certain technique taught to us by the C's, correctly practiced, with knowledge, enables the individual to liberate the Cosmic energy from the mixture of programmed negative emotional response. This enables the person to calmly and coolly respond to the negative activity in a creative way, all the while experiencing a prolonged induction of energy from the higher centers that produces a state of unmitigated joy.

Each time you refuse to respond to the negative shock in a negative way, but instead, take POSITIVE ACTION, you have achieved a victory over a negative emotion. When you face the petty tyrant and give his lies what they ask for: truth, you have transmuted the energy into creative action. When the shocks of attack are NOT given back to the petty tyrant in "like coin," but instead, the energy is utilized to GIVE SOMETHING POSITIVE TO OTHERS, you are achieving victory over negative emotions. And each of these shocks, each of these experiences of being "in the fire," produce greater and greater fusion of the lower centers with the higher centers.

So, the point is not to "give love TO" the petty tyrant in the twisted sense that this is generally promulgated, but rather that we see, with knowledge, why we CAN and MUST love our enemies and bless those who curse and persecute us. Not in the sense of "treating them with love" at all. Rather, we are to treat them with cool and calm reactions that give back to them exactly what they deserve. But the overload of Cosmic energy of reaction that is inducted in us, we can transmute for higher purposes of great significance in the process of "Ascension."

Because, in truth, to give TO the petty tyrant the energy they evoke would be like shooting a mosquito with a rocket launcher - a huge waste of energy that we can use to launch ourselves from our state of sleep to full wakefulness. And this is why Don Juan tried to put this in perspective for us by calling them "petty tyrants." Even those who hold the power of life and death over a person are still "petty tyrants." This emphasizes for us the relative amount of our energy of attention they are due, while helping us to focus on the great amount of energy that we need to transmute in ourselves as a result of their attacks.

Rejoice. From the fire comes light.

Ascension: The Quest For the Holy Grail, concl.

Negative emotions. Inhibition. Alpha waves. Alchemical transmutation. Pure joy. Euphoria. It all finally makes sense now.

 

[Persej]

Except from Gnosis book-two, by Boris Mouravieff

How can we awaken the emotional center and then develop it? The answer is, by mastering negative emotions and transmuting them into positive emotions.

The magnetic center is formed starting from the lower emotional center, which it progressively absorbs before it is finally integrated into the higher emotions center, the doorway to Light and real Life.

It may be surprise that when treated according to precise rules founded on a strenuous psychics discipline, these very same emotions, though harmful, can become an abundant source of the fine active energies whose presence is necessary for the development of the Personality.

A diametrically effect is produced at the moment when negative emotions arise in person. The subject need to remain calm and does not mechanically fall into a state of confluence.

The negative emotions can only be formed and begin to act in the inner darkness which characterize the state of confluence, but introspective observation brightens our inner being just like a streetlamp. The light projected by constatation within the limits of the Present disassociates the negative emotions, and the passions which gave rise to them then fall back into a latent state.

But constatation has yet another effect that is of primary importance: the immediate disassociation of the component which constitute the negative emotion liberates the energy SI-12, which the passion had drawn into the motor center. A victory over negative emotion brings an inflow of joy into the lower emotional center.

This joy is an expression of the abundance of the energy SI-12 released by constatation, this makes the lower emotional center vibrate at the rapid rhythm that makes instaneous contact with the higher emotional center and triggers the release of a current of energy SOL-12.

Each victory over a negative emotion accelerates the formation of this center. It is this energy which allows the establishment of a contact with the higher emotional center and accelerates the growth and the development of the magnetic center.

And the missing part in the formula are the alpha waves, because only with the strong alpha waves can this transmutation be accomplished.

Do we have any scientific proof of that? Well, we have this:

Flicker light stimulation (FLS) is a non-pharmacological method of inducing altered states of consciousness (ASCs), producing hallucination-like phenomena as well as effects extending beyond the visual modality, including emotional effects. Research into the psychological and neural mechanisms of FLS is still in its infancy, but can be informed by research into other methods of inducing ASCs. For instance, research on classic psychedelics has reported enhancement of emotional responses to music. Here, we test to what degree FLS might also enhance the emotional response to music, using a study protocol designed to resemble a previous study on the effects of LSD as closely as possible, to allow for comparison of effect sizes across modalities and inform future research into FLS as an ASC-induction method. Twenty participants listened to emotionally evocative music in two conditions – with and without FLS – and reported on their emotional response to the music. FLS showed a significant enhancing effect on reported music-evoked emotion, especially emotions relating to “Joyful Activation”; additionally, we found that the experienced intensity of FLS correlated with reports of higher levels of emotional arousal. These findings motivate further research into FLS as a method for inducing ASCs and into the interactions between visual phenomena and music-evoked emotion.

Frontiers | Flicker light stimulation enhances the emotional response to music: a comparison study to the effects of psychedelics

Flicker light stimulation (FLS) is a non-pharmacological method of inducing altered states of consciousness (ASCs), producing hallucination-like phenomena as...

www.frontiersin.org

In this study, they used the 10 Hz flicker - the alpha flicker. So we have at least a confirmation that alpha waves can enhance the emotional response to impressions.

Do we have an explanation about how is that accomplished? No, but there seems to be some movement in that direction.

Alpha oscillations are a distinctive feature of the awake resting state of the human brain. However, their functional role in resting-state neuronal dynamics remains poorly understood. Here we show that, during resting wakefulness, alpha oscillations drive an alternation of attenuation and amplification bouts in neural activity. Our analysis indicates that inhibition is activated in pulses that last for a single alpha cycle and gradually suppress neural activity, while excitation is successively enhanced over a few alpha cycles to amplify neural activity. Furthermore, we show that long-term alpha amplitude fluctuations-the "waxing and waning" phenomenon-are an attenuation-amplification mechanism described by a power-law decay of the activity rate in the "waning" phase. Importantly, we do not observe such dynamics during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep with marginal alpha oscillations. The results suggest that alpha oscillations modulate neural activity not only through pulses of inhibition (pulsed inhibition hypothesis) but also by timely enhancement of excitation (or disinhibition).

Beyond pulsed inhibition: Alpha oscillations modulate attenuation and amplification of neural activity in the awake resting state - PubMed

Alpha oscillations are a distinctive feature of the awake resting state of the human brain. However, their functional role in resting-state neuronal dynamics remains poorly understood. Here we show that, during resting wakefulness, alpha oscillations drive an alternation of attenuation and...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

And lastly, I found this article where it is mentioned that Nostradamus might have experimented with flicker:

Inducing hallucinations by Flickering light emerged long before the scientific era. In 1564 Nostradamus conducted Flicker experiments (at the bequest of Catherine de’Medici), he was inspired by the legends of Lucrezia Borgia and the subtle magic of ‘photic-entrainment[1] by flames she employed to access visionary divinations, and predict future events.

https://www.interaliamag.org/articles/luciana-haill-revelations-by-flicker-dreamachines-and-electroencephalographic-signals-in-art/

 

[Persej]

The activity of Self-Observation is exactly the eating and digestion of the third
food, sensory impressions, viz., the bringing into an active, detailed awareness of the
sensory input continually arriving both from without and from within the body itself. This
active effort of consciousness must, and does, have two complimentary effects: first. It
actually “eats” the incoming impressions and thus initiates their own digestion within the
organism; second, this initiation of digestion of the third food thus provides the necessary
shock to the second food evolution to assist it across its ‘mi-fa’ interval and to continue its
own digestion. ...

Self Remembering

The term has a reference both to Self-Observation and to Non-identification but it is synonymous with neither. The conscious act of Self-Observation is performed as follows: 1) a deliberately conscious distinction is set up between “I” and the organic body; 2) one consciously identifies oneself...

cassiopaea.org

ISOTM-page 188 said:

“…ordinary conditions of life we do not remember ourselves; we do not remember, that is, we do not feel ourselves at the moment of a perception, of an emotion, of a thought or of an action….Moreover, it very often happens that the additional sensation connected with self-remembering brings with it an element of emotion, that is, the work of the machine attracts a certain amount of ‘carbon’ 12 to the place in question. Efforts to remember oneself, observation of oneself at the moment of receiving an impression, observation of one’s impressions at the moment of receiving them, registering, so to speak, the reception of impressions and the simultaneous defining of the impressions received, all this taken together doubles the intensity of the impressions and carries do 48 to re 24.

So the alpha waves double the intensity of the impressions, and initiate their own digestion within the organism. And then that energy is used for the growth of the 4D body.

If, however, at the moment when the negative emotions arises in him, the subject remains calm and does not mechanically begin to run a program, something powerful and positive can occur. By persistent introspection, the individual can observe the rise of the negative emotions and can disconnect them from intellectual or moving center usurpation and, understanding the origin of the reaction, will shed light on the inner darkness. The individual is then in a position to perform an act of primary importance: the liberation of the energy of the negative emotion for positive use. To allow this energy to be kept in the emotional center itself, to concentrate there, while simultaneously acquiring the knowledge of the external reality that stimulated the emotional reaction, and preventing the energy from being dissipated by the moving center, is a "victory" over the negative emotion, a mastery of the self that immediately brings an inflow of joy to the lower emotional center. This occurs when the negative emotional energy, concentrated in this way, causes the lower emotional center to vibrate at the rapid rhythm that is normal to it, which then establishes instant contact with the higher emotional center which triggers the current of higher emotional energy into the lower. The inflow of higher joy in the current of energy from the higher emotional center can then act on the energy concentrated in the lower emotional center by induction, transmuting it into the higher energy of the soul, which is the essential process of fusing the magnetic center, or growing the 4th density body - the gradual transformation of the physical body to the immortal body. With practice, this contact can be prolonged with more rapid results.

And, of course, the more violent the negative emotion, the greater the quantity of the emotional center energy that is produced, the more difficult the process, and the greater the rewards.

And you could also say that the more violent the negative emotion, the more difficult the process of suppression of their expression. The more difficult the process of suppression of their expression, the more alpha waves produced. The more alpha waves produced, the more efficient the transmutation of energy. The more efficient the transmutation of energy, the greater the rewards.

Another interesting question is what happens when we sleep? The C's said:

Q: Does the recharging of the souled being come from a similar pool, only maybe the "human" pool?

A: No - it recharges from the so-called sexual center which is a higher center of creative energy. During sleep, the emotional center, not being blocked by the lower intellectual center and the moving center, transduces the energy from the sexual center. It is also the time during which the higher emotional and intellectual centers can rest from the "drain" of the lower centers' interaction with those pesky organic portals so much loved by the lower centers. This respite alone is sufficient to make a difference. But, more than that, the energy of the sexual center is also more available to the other higher centers.

Q: (L) Well, the next logical question was: where does the so-called "sexual center" get ITS energy?

A: The sexual center is in direct contact with 7th density in its "feminine" creative thought of "Thou, I Love." The "outbreath" of "God" in the relief of constriction. Pulsation. Unstable Gravity Waves.

Session 13 July 2002​

Notice that the C's said that in order for this energy transduction to occur, the emotional center must not be blocked by the lower intellectual center and the moving center. That is the same requirement when transforming the negative emotions. We must not use the lower intellectual center and the moving center when the negative emotions appear in us. We must suppress them in order for the transmutation to occur. And for that we use alpha waves.

So my question would be: is the transduction of the energy from the sexual center during sleep, which is done in the emotional center, also influenced by the alpha waves?

One thing that I noticed, is that after sleep deprivation I have a very deep sleep that lasts about 4 hours, after which I wake up very refreshed. And I get much more energy than after a normal sleep.

I found this article where they monitored EEG during sleep, after sleep deprivation:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2009.00776.x

And in it, you can see on figure 1b that during the first half of the night, which corresponds to the 4 hours that I am usually sleeping after sleep deprivation, the alpha waves around 10 Hz, and also delta and theta, are much higher than in normal sleep. Do these changes in brainwaves influence how much energy can we get from the 7D through the sexual center, and also how much of that energy can we transduce in the emotional center?

 

[Persej]

Alpha waves are connected to the serotonin. Serotonin increases alpha waves, but people can react differently to serotonin treatment.

Brain wave measurements predict response to antidepressants

A study by researchers at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA has found a new noninvasive way to predict which individuals will respond favorably to the most commonly used medications to treat depression — using brain wave recordings.

Depression is a major public health problem and leading cause of disability that affects 17 million people in the United States every year. Less than one-third of people with the disorder find relief from depression with the first antidepressant that is prescribed for them — and patients must wait weeks to months to see if the antidepressant will be effective for them. Some people also stop taking antidepressants because of the medications’ side effects.

UCLA researchers report that a simple biomarker — a pair of brain-wave recordings, or electroencephalograms, that can be performed in a doctor’s office in about 10 minutes — can predict whether the person will enter remission after just one week of treatment.

“Knowing whether a medication is going to work could eliminate weeks of waiting by the patient, and get them on effective treatment more quickly,” said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, senior author of the study and a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science at the Semel Institute.

The study is published online in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

The researchers used the electroencephalogram recordings to predict recovery from depression in those taking escitalopram, a common antidepressant sold under the brand name Lexapro. Escitalopram works by increasing the levels of serotonin, a chemical messenger or neurotransmitter in the brain that helps to regulate mood.

Serotonin levels in the brain also maintain the ratio between slow brain waves (so-called delta–theta activity) and faster “alpha” brain waves. The brain uses this ratio between fast and slow waves to form chemical or electrical networks that support normal mood and thinking. Leuchter, who is also director of the Semel Institute’s Neuromodulation Division, and his colleagues reasoned that the effect of escitalopram in shifting the balance between delta–theta and alpha activity would predict the effectiveness of the drug in relieving symptoms of depression.

The researchers tested whether brain wave recordings in the first week of treatment would show that the antidepressant (as compared with a placebo) corrected the frequency imbalance — and predict a beneficial effect of medication on an individual’s depression after seven weeks of treatment.

Researchers analyzed data from 194 people, 18 to 70 years old, with major depressive disorder. The individuals fell into three groups: two comprised of 70 and 76 patients, each treated with escitalopram for seven weeks, and a third group of 48 patients treated with a placebo. (The groups receiving escitalopram were part of separate studies evaluating the effectiveness of escitalopram compared with other types of antidepressants.) All of the patients were given an electroencephalogram before treatment, and a second one after one week of treatment (or one week after taking the placebo).

After one week of taking escitalopram, the brain wave recordings of the people who eventually responded favorably to the treatment differed significantly from the measurements of those who did not benefit. Specifically, those subjects who showed a large shift toward producing more delta–theta waves were less likely to enter remission with escitalopram treatment. Conversely, those subjects who shifted toward producing more alpha oscillations after one week of treatment with escitalopram were significantly more likely to find relief from their depression. Brain wave shifts did not predict treatment outcomes in patients given a placebo.

The study is notable in a number of ways, the researchers say. For example, although some previous studies have reported on biomarkers that can predict response — that is, whether an individual will get better — few have been able to predict whether a patient will enter remission.

“The other important finding — and the pleasant surprise — is that we also tested the biomarker in a group of subjects treated with placebo,” Leuchter said. “Many patients with depression who are treated with placebo also get better or well, but frequently this improvement is only short-lived,” he said. “Our biomarker selectively predicted remission with medication, but not placebo. This confirmed that we can differentiate a true, specific response to a drug from a non-specific placebo response. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a biomarker that differentiates placebo remission from drug remission has been reported.”

The researchers next plan to use brain wave recordings to evaluate other antidepressant medications as well as cutting-edge non-medication treatments such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, a magnetic method used to stimulate small areas of the brain.

Currently, finding the right antidepressant for individuals is a process of prolonged trial-and-error, Leuchter said. “As a result, it can take well over a year to recover from depression. Our biomarker could greatly shorten the length of time — to as little as one week — that a patient has to wait to see if a drug is going to work.”

Brain wave measurements predict response to antidepressants

A study by UCLA researchers found that a noninvasive method can help to determine whether an individual will enter remission after just one week of medical treatment.

newsroom.ucla.edu

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022395616304770

This study also came to the same conclusion:

In a pilot study using a quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) method known as neurometrics, in which QEEG data from OCD patients were compared statistically with those from an age-appropriate normative population, we previously reported the existence of two subtypes of OCD patients within a clinically homogeneous group of patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for OCD. Following pharmacological treatment, a clear relationship was found between treatment response and neurometric cluster membership. In this study, we have expanded the OCD population, adding patients from a second site, and have replicated the existence of two clusters of patients in an enlarged, statistically more robust population. Cluster 1 was characterized by excess relative power in theta, especially in the frontal and frontotemporal regions; cluster 2 was characterized by increased relative power in alpha. Further, 80.0% of the members of cluster 1 were found to be nonresponders to drug treatment, while 82.4% of the members of cluster 2 were found to be treatment responders.

Quantitative electroencephalographic subtyping of obsessive-compulsive disorder - PubMed

Current neuropsychological, electrophysiological, and other imaging data strongly suggest the existence of a neurobiological basis for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which was long considered to be exclusively of psychogenic origin. The positive response of some OCD patients to...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

And this one:

EEG alpha measures predict therapeutic response to an SSRI antidepressant: Pre and post treatment findings

There is growing evidence that individual differences among depressed patients on electrophysiologic (EEG), neuroimaging, and neurocognitive measures are predictive of therapeutic response to antidepressants. This study replicates prior findings of pretreatment ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Persej]

Coming back to the shape of the mirror, perhaps it should be rectangular, but with more angles than just four.

Q: We have here the Denver Airport Pictures which Chloe took on her trip and perhaps we would like to have a little bit of an interpretation on this very bizarre figure here. Is it supposed to be looked at this way or reversed?
A: Either.
Q: Could you give us a little interpretation on that picture; it’s about the strangest thing I’ve ever seen… well, no it’s not, but it’s right up there! {Laughter}

A: It is a rectagon.
Q: What is a rectagon?
A: Picture uniting numerous rectangular principles of photo optic representation.
Q: What's the point?
A: If one gazes at it long enough, they will involuntarily be placed into an alpha state.
Q: Okay. If they go into an alpha state, is there some other kind of message that the picture then conveys?
A: That is not the point!
Q: What is the point?
A: They then are open to programming of a level one order!
Q: (Ark) Does the scale of the picture matter?
A: It works better when one gazes at the mural itself, rather than a photographic representation of same. There are magnetic factors at the Denver Airport which play into the situation.
Q: What kind of magnetic factors?
A: Artificially contoured wave-like beams.
Q: These beams have a magnetic effect?
A: Magnetism.
Q: (Ark) If gazing at this picture produces an alpha state, how long does it last?
A: Indefinite.
Q: (T) How long do you have to look at the picture?
A: Each individual responds differently.

Session 1 November 1997​

A little more about the alpha waves from the sessions:

Q: (TF) What was the Mmmmmmm sound in my father's dreams? (L) You're big into dreams, huh? (TF) It's a family thing!

A: Was accessing sound waves in alpha state not normally audible.

Session 3 June 1995​

A: Even without notes, the lonely young man walks down the concrete walk with the clumsily arranged light poles, contemplating the truth, the REAL truth. You were in an alpha state, a crossroads, wondering "where do I go from here?" "And why are all these things being pushed onto me?" Go back to then, Arkady. You know you are really a "Russian" at heart!

Session 18 July 1998​

Go back to then, as in, go back to an alpha state?

Q: (Ark) I was recently interested in biofeedback machine that is supposed to monitor your brain waves and teach you how to achieve alpha state or delta state. I notice that these machines that were widely available 40 years ago disappeared from the market. Are they so beneficial that they were suppressed?

A: Yes

Q: (Ark) Should we get one?

A: Yes

Session 21 March 2020​

Another interesting thing is that the C's never liked children being present during the sessions. Well, children have different brainwaves than adults.

Thus, the main changes in brain maturation with the age of the child are transition from delta and theta, specific for children, to alpha and beta, specific for adults and decrease in the absolute EEG power.

Speech Features and Electroencephalogram Parameters in 4- to 11-Year-Old Children

The goal of the study is to investigate a correlation between different levels of speech organization, indicating the physiological processes of maturation of the vocal tract structures and brain regions associated with speech and language, and basic electroencephalogram (EEG) rhythms...

www.frontiersin.org

 

[Ryan]

In other words, it's all about increasing the alpha waves in the brain.

You've posted so much good information on this thread that I haven't even begun to parse it all, but I was looking into brainwave hemispheric differences as a side topic on one of the Eurasia-Aus reading workshops, and I found the following studies which might be of interest to you, so I'm posting them below:

Identifying relevant asymmetry features of EEG for emotion processing
Identifying relevant asymmetry features of EEG for emotion processing

Abstract:
The left and right hemispheres of the brain process emotion differently. Neuroscientists have proposed two models to explain this difference. The first model states that the right hemisphere is dominant over the left to process all emotions. In contrast, the second model states that the left hemisphere processes positive emotions, whereas the right hemisphere processes negative emotions. Previous studies have used these asymmetry models to enhance the classification of emotions in machine learning models. However, little research has been conducted to explore how machine learning models can help identify associations between hemisphere asymmetries and emotion processing. To address this gap, we conducted two experiments using a subject-independent approach to explore how the asymmetry of the brain hemispheres is involved in processing happiness, sadness, fear, and neutral emotions. We analyzed electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from 15 subjects collected while they watched video clips evoking these four emotions. We derived asymmetry features from the recorded EEG signals by calculating the log ratio between the relative energy of symmetrical left and right nodes. Using the asymmetry features, we trained four binary logistic regressions, one for each emotion, to identify which features were more relevant to the predictions. The average AUC-ROC across the 15 subjects was 56.2, 54.6, 51.6, and 58.4% for neutral, sad, fear, and happy, respectively. We validated these results with an independent dataset, achieving comparable AUC-ROC values. Our results showed that brain lateralization was observed primarily in the alpha frequency bands, whereas for the other frequency bands, both hemispheres were involved in emotion processing. Furthermore, the logistic regression analysis indicated that the gamma and alpha bands were the most relevant for predicting emotional states, particularly for the lateral frontal, parietal, and temporal EEG pairs, such as FT7-FT8, T7-T8, and TP7-TP8. These findings provide valuable insights into which brain areas and frequency bands need to be considered when developing predictive models for emotion recognition.

“Nonetheless, recent neuroscience studies have challenged these asymmetrical models by reporting that the brain exhibits dynamic behavior and a bilateral activation (Morawetz et al., 2020; Stanković and Nešić, 2020; Palomero-Gallagher and Amunts, 2022). For instance, Stanković and Nešić (2020) reported that, initially, the brain displays a right-biased pattern for emotional perception, but after experiencing psychological conditions, such as stress or demanding emotional tasks, the distribution of brain activity is altered and redistributed across both hemispheres.”

“In addition to the distinction between hemispheres in emotion processing, neural frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) also play distinct roles (Park et al., 2011). Indeed, researchers have focused on the alpha band (8–12 Hz) to analyze hemispheric asymmetries for different emotions using a methodology known as frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) (Briesemeister et al., 2013). Specifically, FAA compares the electrical activity in the alpha band of the right and left hemispheres in the frontal and prefrontal areas, detecting more cortical activity in one hemisphere when its electrical activity is lower than in the other hemisphere (Gevins et al., 1997; Allen et al., 2004). “

Resting state alpha oscillatory activity is a valid and reliable marker of schizotypy
Resting state alpha oscillatory activity is a valid and reliable marker of schizotypy - Scientific Reports

Schizophrenia is among the most debilitating neuropsychiatric disorders. However, clear neurophysiological markers that would identify at-risk individuals represent still an unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate possible alterations in the resting alpha oscillatory activity in normal population high on schizotypy trait, a physiological condition known to be severely altered in patients with schizophrenia. Direct comparison of resting-state EEG oscillatory activity between Low and High Schizotypy Group (LSG and HSG) has revealed a clear right hemisphere alteration in alpha activity of the HSG. Specifically, HSG shows a significant slowing down of right hemisphere posterior alpha frequency and an altered distribution of its amplitude, with a tendency towards a reduction in the right hemisphere in comparison to LSG. Furthermore, altered and reduced connectivity in the right fronto-parietal network within the alpha range was found in the HSG. Crucially, a trained pattern classifier based on these indices of alpha activity was able to successfully differentiate HSG from LSG on tested participants further confirming the specific importance of right hemispheric alpha activity and intrahemispheric functional connectivity. By combining alpha activity and connectivity measures with a machine learning predictive model optimized in a nested stratified cross-validation loop, current research offers a promising clinical tool able to identify individuals at-risk of developing psychosis (i.e., high schizotypy individuals).

Frontal and parietal EEG alpha asymmetry: a large-scale investigation of short-term reliability on distinct EEG systems
Frontal and parietal EEG alpha asymmetry: a large-scale investigation of short-term reliability on distinct EEG systems - Brain Structure and Function

EEG resting-state alpha asymmetry is one of the most widely investigated forms of functional hemispheric asymmetries in both basic and clinical neuroscience. However, studies yield inconsistent results. One crucial prerequisite to obtain reproducible results is the reliability of the index of interest. There is a body of research suggesting a moderate-to-good reliability of EEG resting-state alpha asymmetry, but unfortunately sample sizes in these studies are typically small. This study presents the first large-scale short-term reliability study of frontal and parietal EEG resting-state alpha asymmetry. We used the Dortmund Vital Study data set containing 370 participants. In each participant, EEG resting state was recorded eight times, twice with their eyes opened, twice with their eyes-closed, each on two different EEG systems. We found good reliability of EEG alpha power and alpha asymmetry on both systems for electrode pairs. We also found that alpha power asymmetry reliability is higher in the eyes-closed condition than in the eyes-open condition. The frontomedial electrode pair showed weaker reliability than the frontolateral and parietal electrode pairs. Interestingly, we found no population-level alpha asymmetry in frontal electrodes, one of the most investigated electrode sites in alpha asymmetry research. In conclusion, our results suggest that while EEG alpha asymmetry is an overall reliable measure, frontal alpha asymmetry should be assessed using multiple electrode pairs.

Hemispheric asymmetries in resting-state EEG and fMRI are related to approach and avoidance behaviour, but not to eating behaviour or BMI
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hbm.24864

Much of our behaviour is driven by two motivational dimensions—approach and avoidance. These have been related to frontal hemispheric asymmetries in clinical and resting-state EEG studies: Approach was linked to higher activity of the left relative to the right hemisphere, while avoidance was related to the opposite pattern. Increased approach behaviour, specifically towards unhealthy foods, is also observed in obesity and has been linked to asymmetry in the framework of the right-brain hypothesis of obesity. Here, we aimed to replicate previous EEG findings of hemispheric asymmetries for self-reported approach/avoidance behaviour and to relate them to eating behaviour. Further, we assessed whether resting fMRI hemispheric asymmetries can be detected and whether they are related to approach/avoidance, eating behaviour and BMI. We analysed three samples: Sample 1 (n = 117) containing EEG and fMRI data from lean participants, and Samples 2 (n = 89) and 3 (n = 152) containing fMRI data from lean, overweight and obese participants. In Sample 1, approach behaviour in women was related to EEG, but not to fMRI hemispheric asymmetries. In Sample 2, approach/avoidance behaviours were related to fMRI hemispheric asymmetries. Finally, hemispheric asymmetries were not related to either BMI or eating behaviour in any of the samples. Our study partly replicates previous EEG findings regarding hemispheric asymmetries and indicates that this relationship could also be captured using fMRI. Our findings suggest that eating behaviour and obesity are likely to be mediated by mechanisms not directly relating to frontal asymmetries in neuronal activation quantified with EEG and fMRI.

Online EEG Atlas:
https://eeg-atlas.com/#introductions

 

[Persej]

You've posted so much good information on this thread that I haven't even begun to parse it all, but I was looking into brainwave hemispheric differences as a side topic on one of the Eurasia-Aus reading workshops, and I found the following studies which might be of interest to you, so I'm posting them below:

Brainwave hemispheric differences can be useful in practice, that is a reason why the C's recommended to place the mirror on the left side, but when it comes to the alpha waves, I think that more important is the difference between the external and internal orientation of the attention, because that is where you can see the biggest difference in alpha waves power.

This article about hemispheric differences is also very interesting:

The Alpha Hypothesis: Did Lateralized Cattle–Human Interactions Change the Script for Western Culture?

The domestication of cattle was a key innovation early in the development of Western civilization. Cattle provided the main tractor force to enable broad-scale agriculture and the land transportation of goods. Their initial significance was religiously ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Persej]

A: It is a rectagon.
Q: What is a rectagon?
A: Picture uniting numerous rectangular principles of photo optic representation.

I was thinking about what is this rectangular thing reminding me of, and I remembered that it reminds me of famous carpets made in Serbia:

Vekovima čuvani simboli pirotskog ćilima još zagonetka

Prema tajni koju su bake mladim tkaljama prenosile tek u starosti, pirotski ćilim pet vekova odoleva vremenu i nosi simbole koji, kažu predanja i legende, imaju moć da otklone negativnu energiju, sačuvaju porodičnu slogu i zaštite vlasnika.

www.juznevesti.com

Before starting 6 years ago the "Ladies' Heart" Artisan Cooperative for Making Carpets, Slavica studied the patterns of Pirot carpets for years.

She can hardly explain the fascination with the carpet, which she felt even as a child. I remember that my mother kept the rugs away from us children, but I always took one when she went somewhere and looked at the patterns for a long time. Then I put it back in its place so that it wouldn't be noticed - Slavica remembers.

PIROTSKI ĆILIM - ČUVAR TRADICIJE I AUTENTIČNOSTI - KORENI SU KLJUČ ZA RAZUMEVANJE UNUTRAŠNJEG SEBE | RYL

PIŠE: DR MILICA ŽIVADINOVIĆ, AKADEMSKI SLIKAR I ISTORIČAR UMETNOSTI Pirotski ćilim predstavlja izuzetno važan segment mašeg stvaralaštva, tradicije i kulture. Simboli sa pirotskih ćilima svakako su najcenjeniji i najpoznatiji ornamenti tkačke umetnosti koji dosežu u korene verovanja o duhovnoj...

ryl.rs

It looks like they are using the same "numerous rectangular principles of photo optic representation".

 

[Ryan]

This article about hemispheric differences is also very interesting:

That is super interesting! I'll share it with the reading workshop.

 

[Persej]

Alpha waves can also be increased by increasing the skin temperature, which can be done by increase in ambient temperature and/or increase in air humidity.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332232151_Influence_of_thermal_environment_on_occipital_EEG_signal_amplitude_in_sedentary_activities

Some studies show the opposite results, but they used much higher temperature (35C) compared to the above study where they used lower (32C). It's possible that 35C was too hot, considering that subjects also had to do some mental tasks, so they were probably more agitated than relaxed.

We know from other studies that heat stress increases serotonin, and serotonin increases alpha waves, so it makes sense that heat stress would also increase alpha waves. This is the same effect that you would get in a sauna. Now, I am not saying that you should make a psychomantium room like a sauna room, but a little increase in room temperature or air humidity, or both, could help increase the alpha waves.

 

[Persej]

Native/South Americans also have carpets with "numerous rectangular principles": South American Rug - Etsy

But they don't have the same motifs as in the East: What is a Kilim?

Motifs are derived from symbols that were used in ages gone by to inform, communicate and to convey ideas. Over time, some of these signs merged with myths, acquired hidden significance and moved into the world of esoteric symbolism. In this context, their use may not be limited to decorative purposes.

Due to the hidden forces they are believed to imply, their primary purpose may well be psychological rather than aesthetic.

Kilim Motifs and Symbols

Kilim rug motifs are derived from symbols that were used in ages gone by to inform, communicate and to convey ideas. Over time, some of these signs merged with myths, acquired hidden significance and moved into the world of esoteric symbolism.

www.kilim.com

Are their primary purpose the same as in mandalas used for meditation?

 

[Persej]

I don't know if this could be useful for psychomantium or meditation or just sleep, but FWIW:

From the moment the blanket arrived, I was startled by the heftiness of it. Though it was less than what was recommended for my weight, it was heavy. HEAVY. I wondered if I might be smothered by the thing when I put it on. I decided to wash it before using it and was surprised how well the blanket laundered in the machine and tumbled dry without incident.

My first experience with the weighted blanket was using it as I rested on the couch while reading. The oppressive heftiness I experienced holding it and carrying it around was totally different once I positioned it across my body. It felt wonderful. I was instantly relaxed.

Next, I used it for one of my daily catnaps, and it was remarkable. I felt snug, but not hot, and the pressure helped me float to sleep with an ease I’d never experienced before. The weight of the blanket was equally distributed across my body, even when I turned or shifted under its cover. I was amazed at how great it felt - and how great I felt.

Now, the true test was when I used the blanket on days that were stressful or when I felt down and melancholy. The deep pressure of the blanket immediately shifted my mood, reduced my irritability and helped me feel relaxed. I’ve also used it to sleep through the night many times, noting when I do, I fall asleep more quickly and feel fully rested when I awaken.

Should You Be Sleeping with a Weighted Blanket?

Deep Pressure Stimulation may enhance well-being.

www.psychologytoday.com

Weighted blankets found to ease anxiety, stress and insomnia

Stress, anxiety, and insomnia affect millions of people worldwide, and to alleviate the symptoms, there are a variety of routes one can take, including the ever-popular pharmaceutical pills. But as our world continues to break through the madness...

www.sott.net