Brain Wave Frequencies and Their Functions

The brain is an electrochemical organ that generates electrical power. Electrical activity emanating from the brain is displayed in the form of brainwaves. There are five categories of brainwaves, ranging from most activity to least activity.

Gamma (30-70 cycles per second (Hz)): processing of various stimuli such as visual, auditory, touch, there is no such thing as gamma state of mind, they play a supporting role.

Beta (13 – 30 cycles per second (Hz)): Person is attentive, concentrating, problem solving

Alpha (9 – 14 cycles per second (Hz)): Person at rest, reflecting, or meditating.

Theta (5 – 8 cycles per second (Hz)): Person who is daydreaming or regular dreaming, light sleep, hypnosis

Delta (0 – 4 cycles per second (Hz)): Sleep, Body is in repair

Although one state may be predominate and said to be called the current state of the brain, the other states are present at all times. The different brainwaves produce different types of feelings and states of consciousness.

People who meditate can find themselves in alpha, theta, or even delta state, for experienced meditaters and still remain conscious. With brain wave entrainment, we can entrain our brain’s to which ever state we desire.

To do this, we simply expose our brain to the frequency of the state which we are trying to achieve. However, there is a slight problem with that. The human range of hearing is from 20 to 20,000Hz. If we can’t hear the frequency, how can we entrain our brain? We can accomplish this with many techniques such as binaural beats, monaural beats and isochronic tones.