Two [neuronal] groups can only communicate efficiently with each other when their rhythms are coordinated, or synchronized.

Scientific American, one of my favorite mags, included an article on brain rhythm. It makes perfect sense to me that our inner communication system should rely upon specific rhythms – which may explain why we like music so much – especially music with a strong beat. Here are some outtakes with my comments:

In an attempt to understand what makes us tick, researchers have been probing various regions of the brain, such as the premotor cortex, which helps make movement possible, and the auditory cortex, responsible for processing what we hear. But neuroscientists now say communication between regions – as opposed to within the areas themselves – may be the key that has eluded analysis until now, in part, because of technological obstacles.

Earl Miller, a professor of neuroscience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, says that today’s faster computers and more advanced electronics may provide scientists with the tools they need to unlock the brain’s mysteries.

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Out of body experiences can be created artificially now in the lab. Cool!

Normally, I see what I see and feel what I feel – and that is that. But recently, a university in Stockholm has created a method for consistently fooling the senses in such a way as to trick the person into believing they are out of their own body. We call it “out of body experience” (OOBE). This is SO cool!

People who have come close to death sometimes report what are known as out of body experiences, in which they have seen themselves from somewhere else in the room – usually from above their body. Scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have now come up with a technique that recreates this sensation in fully conscious healthy volunteers (I told you this was cool!). They hope that this technique will enable them to study the relationship between the body and the ’self’ in the laboratory environment – allowing for more consistent results.

“The idea for the study came to me several years ago”, says Dr Henrik Ehrsson, research leader in the Department of Clinical Neuroscience. “I wondered what would happen if you moved a person’s eyes to somewhere else in the room. It has been found that the visual perspective is crucial in determining how the ego is experienced.”

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Have you ever tried a mind machine? You know, those cool hand-held computers that present you with flashing lights and brain wave tones? Basically, you put on headsets and special glasses that have LEDs in them, close your eyes, hit the start button and WOW! Yeah – those are the mind machines I’m talking about.

I own several models – Voyager Mind’s Eye (used to be Voyager XL), Voyager Galaxy, Proteus, and Sirius (Used to be Orion). My favorite is the Voyager Mind’s Eye. Here is my personal evaluation of each:
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