[ahewett]

Hey, glad you like the music. :)

Regarding the Novella quote:

> [no evidence that] altering the brain waves changes the actual functioning of the brain

That post was from a while ago, so I'm not sure if he's updated his opinion, but there's plenty of evidence that changing brain waves affects the functioning of the brain. I feel I should have Giovanni respond to that specifically so I'll get him on here as soon as he's available.

> There is no compelling evidence for any effect beyond the period of entrainment itself.

There is evidence for it, but at any rate we're not claiming that. We're helping people sleep or relax while they listen, helping them focus while they listen.

> does this impart any more benefit than me listening to my favorite working music whilst working?

I'd be super interested to find out! In the study we did on our focus sessions, we compared very similar music - still generated by the AI actually. We have the unique ability to create a sham that sounds nearly identical to the experiment, due to the way we "disguise" the stimulation as vibrato, tremolo, normal instrumental vibrations, electronic LFOs, and so on. So we opted for that instead of letting them choose something from spotify, etc. I actually think we would have gotten a much greater result in that case, because the AI-generated music - although not containing "entraining" modulations - still obeyed rules designed to keep the music from being distracting (no lyrics or abrupt stops, volume consistency, avoiding certain frequency ranges (pitches), and so on). Even so, if you find your existing music to work, why switch? Give both a try, see what you think, base your decision on results. Or use both, depending on how you feel? Today I coded to Queen and then Brain.fm and then some Motown. I especially love video game soundtracks like Chrono Cross, WarcraftIII, Wipeout... Brain.fm is there if I need an extra boost.

I'd love to hear what you listen to? Kind of a hobby of mine to collect people's work music :)

[swe]

"There is evidence for it"

I would be super interested to see some evidence. Any peer reviewed journals would be fine

[ahewett]

Sure! I spent some time looking through my library. Here's some, but there are more. There's some I really wanted to show you but will take more time to get the actual reference. Sorry, if you're interested, please email us when all this craziness is over :) Also apologies about the lack of consistent formatting or alphabetizing :)

Oudiette, D., G. Santostasi, and K.A. Paller, Reinforcing rhythms in the sleeping brain with a computerized metronome. Neuron, 2013. 78(3): p. 413-5.

Santostasi, G., R. Malkani, B. Riedner, M. Bellesi, G. Tononi, K.A. Paller, et al., Phase-locked loop for precisely timed acoustic stimulation during sleep. J Neurosci Methods, 2016. 259: p. 101-14.

Tononi, G., B.A. Riedner, B.K. Hulse, F. Ferrarelli, and S. Sarasso, Enhancing sleep slow waves with natural stimuli. . Medica Mundi, 2010. 54(2): p. 73–79.

Joyce, M. and Siever, D., 2000. "Audio-Visual Entrainment (AVE) Program as a Treatment for Behavior Disorders in a School Setting." Journal of Neurotherapy. 4, 9-25.

Berg, K., and Siever, D., 2009. "A controlled comparison of audio-visual entrainment for treating Seasonal Affective Disorder." Journal of Neurotherapy 13.3 (2009): 166-175.

Ossebaard, H. C., 2000. "Stress reduction by technology? An experimental study into the effects of brainmachines on burnout and state anxiety." Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 25, 93-101.

Huang TL1, Charyton C. 2008 A comprehensive review of the psychological effects of brainwave entrainment. Altern Ther Health Med. 2008 Sep-Oct;14(5):38-50.

R Olmstead Use of auditory and visual stimulation to improve cognitive abilities in learning-disabled children. Journal of Neurotherapy, 2005

Ong, J.L., J.C. Lo, N.I. Chee, i.G. Santostas, K.A. Paller, P.C. Zee, et al., Effecsts of Phase-Locked Acoustic Stimulation During a Nap On EEG Spectra and Declarative Memory Consolidation.

Ngo, H.V., T. Martinetz, J. Born, and M. Molle, Auditory closed-loop stimulation of the sleep slow oscillation enhances memory. Neuron, 2013. 78(3): p. 545-53.

With photic stimulation:

San Martini, P., Venturini, R., Zapponi, G. A. and Loizzo, A., 1979." Interaction between intermittent photic stimulation and auditory stimulation on the human EEG. Preliminary investigation through power spectral analysis." Neuropsychobiology. 5, 201-206.

Kumano, H., Horie, H., Kuboki, T., Suematsu, H., Sato, H., Yasushi, M., Kamei, T. and Masumura, S., 1997. "EEG-driven photic stimulation effect on plasma cortisol and beta-endorphin." Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 22, 193-208.

Nomura, T., Higuchi, K., Yu, H., Sasaki, S., Kimura, S., Itoh, H., Taniguchi, M., Arakawa, T. and Kawai, K., 2006. "Slow-wave photic stimulation relieves patient discomfort during esophagogastroduodenoscopy." J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 21, 54-58.

Solomon, G. D., 1985. "Slow wave photic stimulation in the treatment of headache--a preliminary report." Headache. 25, 444-446.

Budzynski, T., Jordy, J., Budzynski, H., Tang, H. and Claypoole, K., 1999. "Academic Performance Enhancement with Photic Stimulation and EDR Feedback. Journal of Neurotherapy." 3, 11-21.

Patrick, G. J., 1996. "Improved neuronal regulation in ADHD: An application of fifteen sessions of photic-driven EEG neurotherapy." Journal of Neurotherapy. 1, 27-36.