BrainTap® Technical Overview - The Power of Light, Sound and Vibration

In this research book BrainTap will feature the studies of human brain waves, measured by an electroencephalogram (EEG), are rhythmic or repetitive patterns of neural activity in Central Nervous System (CNS) neurons. It is through these electrical signals that the brain communicates within itself and with other organ systems (Tatum 2014). Coherent and functional brainwave patterns are required for the successful processing, execution and completion of a task, whether physical (such as walking) or mental (solving an algebra problem, for instance) (Tang et al., 2016). It is well known that brain oscillatory rhythms that fall in the 1-30Hz frequency range can be modulated or entrained by an external stimulus (Thut et al., 2011). More 1 specifically, entrainment occurs if a population of neurons in a stimulated region adopts the phase of an entraining stimulus. The entraining stimulus has two effects on population activity: (i) an increase in signal intensity (or power) as more and more neurons become phase aligned to the entraining stimulus, and (ii) phase alignment of the population activity to the entraining stimulus (Hanslmayr et al., 2019). In healthy individuals, specific brainwave patterns are associated with various mental states. Five common brainwave frequency bands or patterns (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma) and related mental activities have been described (Thompson and Thompson 2003). Brainwave or Neural entrainment, may provide an almost instantaneous increase in power of the stimulated oscillatory frequency (Chaieb et al., 2015), and can be achieved with minimal effort from the participant through rhythmic auditory (Isochronic tones, Binaural beats) or visual stimulation to entrain neural oscillations.