Light and Sound Neurotherapy Research

Ed Pigott, Ph.D., Greg Alter, Ph.D.  &Dennis Marikis, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologists & Principals, NeuroAdvantage, LLC
All Rights Reserved, 2008

Throughout time, people have learned to enjoy our brains’ natural tendency to synchronize with pleasant light and sound stimulation.  Whether it is the rhythmic beating of drums around campfires in primitive cultures, disco dancing to throbbing music and synchronized strobe lights in the 1970’s and 80’s, or being entranced by a fire’s flickering flames while listening to jazz today, this rhythmic stimulation has the power to shape our thoughts, moods and behaviors.

The earliest known clinical use of light stimulation was by Pierre Janet, a French psychiatrist in the early 1900’s.  Dr. Janet worked in a Parisian mental hospital and began experimenting with having his patients stare at a light that flashed at a constant rate controlled by a fan spinning in front of a lamp.  Dr. Janet found that this new form of therapy had a profound soothing effect on them.

By using an electroencephalographic (EEG) machine, Adrian and Matthews (1934) were the first researchers to document that this flashing light therapy changed subjects’ brainwave activity   Toman (1941), followed by Walter and Walter (1949), built on this discovery and found that the hertz (Hz) frequency that the light flashed at caused the same frequency in subjects’ brainwaves to grow stronger.

Since these early pioneers, other neuroscientists have documented the ease with which our brainwaves synchronize to repetitive light stimulation. Neher (1961) found that this same synchronization effect occurred to rhythmic sound stimulation.

In 1999, Budzynski and associates took this research a step further.  They compared the effectiveness of academic counseling to  30 light stimulation sessions at 14 Hz for a group of academically struggling college students.  Their study found that the 14 Hz sessions not only had a positive EEG synchronization effect but that these changes persisted while the students were performing mental tasks while there was no EEG changes in those who received academic counseling.  The students who had the 30 light stimulation sessions went on to improve their GPA by an average of .7 points in the quarter following treatment termination while the students who received academic counseling averaged a slight decline in GPA (.2 points).

Using a variety of neuro-imaging measurement tools, researchers have discovered that rhythmic light and/or sound stimulation increases brain metabolism and cerebral blood flow. 

On the biochemical front, Kumano and associates (1997) found that multiple light stimulation sessions generated positive changes in the brain by increasing B-endorphin levels and decreasing plasma cortisol, a marker for stress.  Summarizing across these studies, neuroscientists have documented that rhythmic
light and/or sound stimulation strengthens those brainwave patterns that synchronize with the frequency of the flashing light and/or rhythmic sound and that these changes persist while performing mental tasks, increases brain metabolism and cerebral blood flow;  generates positive biochemical changes in the brain by increasing B-endorphin levels and decreasing plasma cortisol, a marker for stress.  

Clinical Applications of Light and Sound Neurotherapy (LSN) Clinical researchers have found that LSN is a robust treatment effective in facilitating relaxation, meditative and hypnotic states in people as well as in promoting healing for numerous mental and physical conditions including:  

ADHD and Learning Problems 
 

The most extensive LSN research has been done with ADHD and learning-impaired individuals.  Eleven studies involving over 500 people have been conducted using rhythmic light and sound stimulation to help correct the under-arousal of the frontal cortex that is often found in people with ADHD and learning disabilities.  These studies document LSN’s effectiveness for many symptoms common in people with ADHD and/or learning disabilities.  Summarizing across studies, these researchers found that LSN treatment:

• Increased sustained attention;
• Increased hyperactivity;
• Improved impulse control;
• Decreased anxiety and depression;
• Improved essential learning skills including:
• Auditory memory
• Mental processing speed
• Verbal and non-verbal IQ
• Improved academic performance;
• Generated improvements equal, or superior, to psycho-stimulant medication and maintained the treatment gains made in IQ and ability to sustain attention for up to 16-months following treatment termination. 

 
Why Is LSN Helpful for Such a Wide Variety of Conditions?

Several researchers have proposed that increased cerebral blood flow is the underlying mechanism that generates the therapeutic effect for different types of neurotherapy.  Numerous neuro-imaging studies document the presence of hypoperfusion (i.e., insufficient cerebral blood flow) in various regions of the brain as diagnostic markers in a host of different disorders. 

These include: