The problem with the brain…
Though an alluring idea, the “10 percent myth” is so wrong it is almost laughable.
-Barry Gordon, Neurologist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
Modern science has proven the theory that we only use 10% of our brains is a myth and that we actually use the majority of our brains quite consistently throughout the day. However, different areas of the brain are used for different functions of daily life and triggered as needed.
Evidence would show over a day you use 100 percent of the brain. Even in sleep, areas such as the frontal cortex, which controls things like higher level thinking and self-awareness, or the somatosensory areas, which help people sense their surroundings, are active.
-John Henley, Neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
So the problem is not that humans are not using enough of their brains, but that most people don’t know how to control what is going on in their mind. Thoughts randomly go in and out and there is no real direction or clarity in most people’s thought process.
Most people use their brains for everyday, daily functions needed to get by while the rest of their thinking faculties are left up to reacting to the things around them. Even if you think you are using your brain more than most, there are two really amazing things that can improve the functioning of your brain and get you felling like a wiz. They are whole brain functioning and brainwave synchronization. These two can be achieved by a simple process called brainwave entrainment. But before we get into that, let’s look at some brain basics.
Basics about the brain:
Cerebral cortex
The outer most layer of your brain is called the cerebral cortex. It covers the largest part of your brain, the cerebellum, and is sometimes referred to as “grey matter”. The cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that you typically see in pictures of the brain and the part that most people visualize when they think about the brain.
The cerebellum is separated into 2 hemispheres. These communicate through a thick tract of nerves called the corpus callosum.
Whole brain functioning:
Although the old belief that the right brain is the creative side of the brain, and the left side is the logical side of the brain is debatable, new scientific discoveries show that both sides of the brain can have similar functions. There is no question that creating more active connective tissue between the two hemispheres improves whole brain functioning. And, who doesn’t want their whole brain to function more as a single working entity? This means you can achieve a clearer thinking, faster working, and multitasking brain. Simply listening to a brainwave entrainment audio recording will create stronger connections in the corpus callosum which improves whole brain functioning.
More brain basics:
One of the other extremely important areas of the brain is the limbic system which is deep in the center of the brain. It is surrounded by the cerebellum and helps control things like emotions and memories. The limbic system is composed of three major parts which duplicated on each side of the brain. The first is the thalamus which is the gatekeeper for information passed between the spinal cord and cerebral hemispheres. It also regulates consciousness, sleep, and alertness which are very important. The hypothalamus controls emotions and does other things like regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, and fatigue. The third part of the limbic system is the hippocampus. It is in charge of sending memories to be stored in appropriate place in the brain and recalls them when necessary. This is the part of the brain that dictates long-term and short-term memory.
There are a lot of other parts of the brain, but these are some of the basics. They are the inner working parts of the brain, the ones to focus on when discovering the best ways to reprogram your brain to function the way that you want.
Making the connection…
Network of neurons:
Now that we know some of the parts of the brain, how do all of these parts actually work together? Well, your brain is made up of millions of nerve cells called neurons. These cells have two different types of branches coming off their cell bodies. They are dendrites, which receive messages, and axions that carry outgoing messages to other cells.
Interconnected neurons provide efficient, lightning-fast communication that send signals all throughout your brain and body. Neurons communicate to each other with electrical impulses. This signal is sent out through the axion by the way of neurotransmitters, or chemicals that communicate a message. The neurotransmitters are received by a dendrite of another cell and so on and so forth until the message arrives at its destination carrying out the thought, feeling, emotion, or action required.
All of this electricity that is going on in the brain from these neurons that are firing away communicating different thoughts in the brain create waves of energy. We know this because these waves of energy can be detected by an EEG (electroencephalography) machine. This is the machine that you see in movies with all of the dots connected to a person’s head and wires running everywhere. It gives a readout of the voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain. These electronic current flows are called brainwaves.
Brain waves:
Brainwaves are similar to sound waves or light waves that you cannot see. They travel as a cyclical wave and are measured in cycles per second or hertz.
Brainwaves are typically categorized into 5 major frequencies and associated with different states of mind and consciousness.
Gamma- 40 to 100 hz
Beta- 13 to 60 hz (conscious, associated with feelings of agitation, fear, and tension) Alpha- 7 to 13 hz (physical and mental relaxation, best state for influencing subconscious) Theta, 4 – 7 hz (associated with deep meditation and sleep)
Delta- 0.1 to 4 hertz (unconsciousness or deep sleep)
In the normal conscious state, your brain is simultaneously producing several different brainwave frequencies at the same time. Think about the different things that go on around you every day. Your brain is processing everything that is coming in as well as creating its own random thoughts about what you have to do or something you saw on television last night. There is a lot of electrical activity going on at any given time with all of those neurons firing off at the same time.
What if we could get the majority of the brain to function on one primary brainwave? How focused and clear could your mind be!?
Brainwave Synchronization:
This is the idea behind brain synchronization. If your whole brain is synchronized to be operating on one major brainwave, think of the clarity of thinking, focus, and efficiency of brain function! Brain entrainment is the process of getting all of your brainwaves to “entrain” to one frequency. The benefits of brain entrainment are great. The other great thing is that once you start listening to brainwave entrainment on a regular basis, you are teaching your brain who to relax and focus on a regular basis. Eventually your brain will grow and figure out how to recreate a synchronized state on its own.
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