I have been studying this in depth for the last month or so and have been reading anything I can possibly find on the subject. This is information I have pieced together and I feel like a detective hot on the trail trying to make sense of it. The following is not “proven” and I may very well be wrong, but it sure makes sense to me. Please forgive me that it’s lengthy, but it’s a vast, unexplored subject that is difficult to put into words. After digging deeper, I too agree that this is as much of a biological function as possible, rather than “charms and enchantments” so to speak. But, in general I do believe that human beings are spiritual beings at the core and our true potential is much, much greater than the majority of us are currently living up to.
This is a fascinating article. http://web.expasy.org/spotlight/pdf/sptlt132.pdf
Current wisdom suggests that, in the brain, the seat of memory and learning is situated in the hippocampus. Until recently, one small region known as CA2 had been neglected by researchers because – unlike the rest of the hippocampus – it didn’t seem to have any say in memory. But it turns out that it does, in a certain sense. Indeed, CA2 is full of RGS14. So, yes, in natural circumstances, RGS14 suppresses the faculty of memorizing. But when the protein was silenced in mice, scientists discovered that the rodents were not only intrigued by new objects – thus meaning that they had recognized pre-existing ones which were consequently of less interest – but they were also far brighter than their wild-type companions at making their way through a maze.
So what is happening on the molecular level? The answer is synaptic plasticity. Memory is believed to be a case of synaptic transmission between neurons, and the strengthening of such connections. This has been termed synaptic plasticity and forms the basis of acquiring and consolidating certain forms of learning and memory. These processes are known to occur in the hippocampus, save in the CA2 region. Which is one of the reasons this region had been ignored until now. So, if synaptic plasticity is at the heart of memory, how does RGS14 act upon it?
According to this article, once the suppressing barrier of RGS14 was removed and the brain synapses were allowed to freely “do their thing,” memory was improved by 1700% or some other equally ridiculous number (the movie “Limitless” comes to mind, this article does not include a percentage but the original study I read did). I’m not denying what I’m about to say is a huge, massive leap-- but if through over the top, excessive stimulation through RBE, the brain can naturally overcome this synapse suppression then theoretically the result would be the same. This experiment proves that it is biologically possible to purposefully manipulate memory in some form or fashion. So, maybe there is more than one path to achieve this state.
And then you’ve got websites like this one, there are many of these out there, that use “brain entrainment” or “biurnal beats” to stimulate cohesive brain waves. Overall, relaxation states can be measured on medical scanning equipment and they list several related studies if you are so inclined to look into it more. http://www.eocinstitute.org/Scientific_Studies_and_Research_s/55.htm
http://s3.amazonaws.com/EOC-Image-Hosting/synchronization111122233445566889900-10-19-2010.gif
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I have been trying to figure out what kind of music is played at midbrain activation two day events, it’s definitely something that at least encourages an alpha state. It’s interesting to me because the effects of meditation (or a similar relaxed meditative state) can be tested through brain scans, etc, so it seems there is a sort of legitimacy about it since it can be backed up. I think something like this potentially combined with the specialized headphones from “the listening program” (by alex doman) would most likely be a home run, but now I’m getting off track.
If at these seminars specialized music encourages the optimal state if brain activity while activities are being performed to heighten sensory awareness (so it is being combined with intent) then it just makes sense to me that midbrain activation is possible and it also makes sense why it needs to be practiced in the 1-3 months following particularly for the neural pathways to become well ingrained. How often are our brains regularly in that state of harmony in order to give those areas their optimum chance for growth? Probably not very often, and children’s brains will always be more plastic than adults. (Note: Shichida’s methods are more ongoing and do not require attending a two day activation “event” which I am just guessing speeds up the process but the home training afterwards is still very much required for maximum effectiveness.)
Re: Photographic Memory training- The US military successfully used high speed flashing with a tachistoscope speed up to .5 second or less in a darkened room to induce photographic memory. The result was the users were able to not only identify friendly/enemy planes but over time they could also read pages of a book after they were flashed. These machines are now out of date and have been replaced by computer simulations, but market research companies still conduct experiments to flash products for less than a second to consumers, among other things. They go to great lengths to ensure the information goes directly to the subconscious and then measure the outcomes in order to create the most effective packaging and highest sales. They hook up software device add-ons to test the subjects’ brain waves, skin reactions, eye tracking, etc during the experiments.
Check out the speed of this flashing in a Shichida class…tachistoscope much? http://youtu.be/R1IMlUdOBLY?t=1m44s
The fact that market researchers use right brain/subconscious methods for capitalism really drives home the point that flashing works if your goal is to input directly into the subconconious/right brain.…the question just becomes how to get it OUT for immediate recall after the fact. Seeing how dramatically brain waves react to music and other stimuli makes it seem reasonable they the mind can be encouraged to be synchronized, and when it is in that state, it is far, far easier for it to learn/change/grow, becoming better connected to recall that flashed information at will. Overall, I believe that midbrain activation is just a biological response of intentionally training this skill to get the brain hemispheres properly “talking” to each other. Neuromarketing is used by nearly all Fortune 100 companies, not just “flashing” but in many ways, the REALLY want your money. And here’s a link referencing the t-scope flashing in market research http://www.quirks.com/articles/a1993/19931101.aspx?searchID=617859093&sort=9)
What’s with all the right brain flashing? Apparently the eyes don’t just give input to their own side of the brain, but instead they ALSO give input to the opposite brain hemisphere, as well. The reason being is that we don’t walk about with two separate “pictures” from two separate eyes every day as we visually intake the world, but rather we have a panoramic view. Our brain is so considerate to blur these images into one neat picture for us. So the information is coming in both eyes but bypassing left brain storage and getting funneled into the right brain because the LB just can’t keep up and it’s just not logical information to be processed there. There are some very nice illustrations of this here and the “X” that connects both eyes to both sides of the brain. There is a really neat study about a cat tested with an eyepatch who eventually had those areas surgically removed, which is how they initially came to these realizations. Anyway, there are some really great images on these slides.
http://www.lst.inf.ethz.ch/teaching/lectures/ws05/229/LectureSlides/Lecture%205%20Cortical%20Vision%20Processing%20given.pdf
So with all of the intense flashing the pathways are getting stronger and stronger, the brain grows accustomed to receiving input much faster, the pipeline expands dramatically, the brain hemispheres are talking to each other in the process of combining visual input from the left and right eyes, and of course memory is being exercised at the same time…which is why high speed image flashing adds up to very effective whole brain stimulation.
Researchers have found lamina IV to be thicker than usual in the visual cortex of a person who has photographic memory and in the auditory cortex of a musician who can play or perform perfect notes or pitches.
http://libby1970.hubpages.com/hub/The-Cerebral-Cortex
Re: intuition & Christmas gifts…there have been several instances that she has spontaneously demonstrated that sort of thing and yes, I do believe it is at least partially related to the early stimulation inadvertently “tickling” all of the right areas of the brain.
Lastly, why on earth would Dr. Shichida write hundreds of books on something that does not exist? Making money I suppose, but the Japanese are such honorable people that are very concerned with self respect, etc, and these claims have been thoroughly investigated by national groups. Are some of the claims fraudulent? Probably! Kids peeking out from under the blindfolds and all of that…but there are probably just as many that are legitimate. This isn’t a small following of one single group, there are TONS of these schools and wannabes in many parts of Asia. There has just GOT to be something to it all. Just like when you are thinking of an old friend and that day the phone rings out of the blue? This is the same thing…just on a higher level. People don’t talk about these things because no one wants to be labeled “the nut job.” :laugh:
Low hanging fruit, right? But recently in looking for the next steps, I dug deep with renewed enthusiasm and after reading about it, wish I had done so way back when and implemented these methods much earlier.
but would be interesting to try with the other kids/myself as well.
what’s the idea behind that one?