Seems like the naysayers should do some scientific research and learn about brainwave function and topography before discrediting something just because they're not familiar with it.
Fiziol Cheloveka. 2011 Jan-Feb;37(1):136-9.
[Effects of unstructured video exposure on EEG power in situations of forced attention and rest].
[Article in Russian]
Dan'ko SG,
Boĭtsova IuA,
Kachalova LM.
Abstract
Group 1 (N = 30) and group 2 (N = 22) of healthy volunteers participated in the experiment. EEG registration took place while the examinees were in the resting states: with closed eyes; with opened eyes; with opened eyes and being under exposure to TV channel noises (white noise). Group 1 had also to fulfill a task to count randomly appearing symbols on a screen and group 2 had to fulfill a task to find an image in the noises. Averaged values of EEG power in each of the derivations in each of the derivations were calculated for an every examinee and for each of the states. The estimations were done in delta, theta, alpha1, alpha2, beta1, beta2, gamma frequency bands.
*The received results demonstrate that exposure to unstructured non-informative video noise can lead to significant changes of EEG power in a variety of frequency bands which are most prominent in the band alpha2.*
The changes are topically widespread, reflecting systemic changes in corresponding brain mechanisms, but are much less intensive if compared to changes between resting states with opened and closed eyes.
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Int J Psychophysiol. 1996 Oct;23(3):215-24.
Prospective associations between lateralised brain function and immune status in HIV infection: analysis of EEG, cognition and mood over 30 months.
Gruzelier J,
Burgess A,
Baldeweg T,
Riccio M,
Hawkins D,
Stygall J,
Catt S,
Irving G,
Catalan J.
Source
Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, University of London, UK.
Abstract
Prospective relations between individual differences in both lateralised neuro-psychophysiological functions and mood ratings with immune status (CD4 and CD8 counts) were examined in asymptomatic HIV-positive men (n = 27) over thirty months. They participated in a controlled study of zidovudine versus placebo (results published elsewhere). Measures included EEG spectra, neuropsychological tests and mood ratings. A model of reciprocal lateralised influences on the immune system was tested whereby patients with left superior to right hemispheric functions were predicted to show a less deleterious outcome than those with the opposite asymmetry pattern. Prospective relations with immune status were found in the EEG with lateralised theta, alpha and beta activity; among cognitive measures with word fluency, semantic processing, and lateralised motor and recognition memory (word/face) processes; with mood ratings including depression, confusion and the total mood score. The nature of the effects supported the laterality predictions. These unique data, showing that neuro-psychophysiological factors in HIV+ but otherwise healthy subjects predict immune competence and compromise present 2-3 years later, warrant replication in a larger cohort.
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As I think I mentioned, even just the act of watching tv itself can affect brainwaves. Not sure what frequencies they're referring to with "lambda" waves, most clinicians I have talked to and studied usually only refer to delta, theta, alpha, smr or lobeta, hibeta, and sometimes gamma.
J Clin Neurophysiol. 2011 Aug;28(4):400-3.
Watching television: a previously unrecognized powerful trigger of λ waves.
Alvarez V,
Maeder-Ingvar M,
Rossetti AO.
Source
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To assess whether lambda waves are elicited by watching television (TV) and their association with demographical and EEG features.
METHODS:
We retrospectively compared lambda wave occurrence in prolonged EEG monitorings of outpatients who were allowed to watch TV and in standard EEGs recorded in TV-free rooms. All EEGs were interpreted by the same two electroencephalographers.
RESULTS:
Of 2,072 standard EEG reports, 36 (1.7 %) mentioned lambda waves versus 46 (32.2%) of 143 prolonged EEG monitoring reports (P < 0.001). Multivariable comparison of prolonged EEG monitorings and standard EEGs disclosed that recordings performed in rooms with a TV (odds ratio, 20.6; 95% confidence interval, 4.8-88.0) and normal EEGs (odds ratio, 3.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-6.25) were independently associated with lambda waves. In the prolonged EEG monitoring group, all recordings with lambda waves also had positive occipital sharp transients of sleep.
CONCLUSIONS:
Watching TV likely represents a powerful and previously unrecognized stimulus for lambda waves. Furthermore, this study confirms the benign nature of this EEG variant and its strong association with positive occipital sharp transients of sleep.
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And it appears that even watching commercials has a different effect on brainwave function that regular programming, perhaps b/c people tend to "tune out" commercials and go into a kind of temporary ruminating state? Which would tend to be theta.
Brain Topogr. 2010 Jun;23(2):165-79. Epub 2009 Dec 22.
Changes in brain activity during the observation of TV commercials by using EEG, GSR and HR measurements.
Vecchiato G,
Astolfi L,
De Vico Fallani F,
Cincotti F,
Mattia D,
Salinari S,
Soranzo R,
Babiloni F.
Source
IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
Abstract
In this study we were interested to analyse the brain activity occurring during the "naturalistic" observation of commercial ads intermingled in a random order within a documentary. In order to measure both the brain activity and the emotional engage of the 15 healthy subjects investigated, we used simultaneous EEG, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), Heart Rate (HR) recordings during the whole experiment. We would like to link significant variation of EEG, GSR, HR and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measurements with the memory and pleasantness of the stimuli presented, as resulted successively from the subject's verbal interview. In order to do that, different indexes were employed to summarize the cerebral and autonomic measurements performed. Such indexes were used in the statistical analysis, performed with the use of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and z-score transformation of the estimated cortical activity by solving the associated EEG inverse problem. The results are summarized as follows: (1) in the population analyzed, the cortical activity in the theta band elicited during the observation of the TV commercials that were remembered is higher and localized in the left frontal brain areas when compared to the activity elicited during the vision of the TV commercials that were forgotten (p < 0.048). Same increase in the theta activity occurred during the observation of commercials that were judgment pleasant when compared with the other (p < 0.042). Differences in cortical activity were also observed for the gamma activity, bilaterally in frontal and prefrontal areas. (2) the HR and HRV activity elicited during the observation of the TV commercials that were remembered or judged pleasant is higher than the same activity during the observation of commercials that will be forgotten (p < 0.001 and p < 0.048, respectively for HR and HRV) or were judged unpleasant (p < 0.042 and p < 0.04, respectively for HR and HRV). No statistical differences between the level of the GSR values were observed across the experimental conditions. In conclusion, the TV commercials proposed to the population analyzed have increased the HR values and the cerebral activity mainly in the theta band in the left hemisphere when they will be memorized and judged pleasant. Further research with an extended set of subjects will be necessary to further validate the observations reported in this paper. However, these conclusions seems reasonable and well inserted in the already existing literature on this topic related to the HERA model.
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Commercials and PSAs that are more likely to be remembered increase left temporo-frontal alpha and beta, not surprising:
Nonlinear Biomed Phys. 2010 Jun 3;4 Suppl 1:S3.
Patterns of cortical activity during the observation of Public Service Announcements and commercial advertisings.
Vecchiato G,
Astolfi L,
Cincotti F,
De Vico Fallani F,
Sorrentino DM,
Mattia D,
Salinari S,
Bianchi L,
Toppi J,
Aloise F,
Babiloni F.
Source
IRCCS "Fondazione Santa Lucia", Rome, Italy .
giovanni.vecchiato@uniroma1.it.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
In the present research we were interested to study the cerebral activity of a group of healthy subjects during the observation a documentary intermingled by a series of TV advertisements. In particular, we desired to examine whether Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are able to elicit a different pattern of activity, when compared with a different class of commercials, and correlate it with the memorization of the showed stimuli, as resulted from a following subject's verbal interview.
METHODS:
We recorded the EEG signals from a group of 15 healthy subjects and applied the High Resolution EEG techniques in order to estimate and map their Power Spectral Density (PSD) on a realistic cortical model. The single subjects' activities have been z-score transformed and then grouped to define four different datasets, related to subjects who remembered and forgotten the PSAs and to subjects who remembered and forgotten cars commercials (CAR) respectively, which we contrasted to investigate cortical areas involved in this encoding process.
RESULTS:
The results we here present show that the cortical activity elicited during the observation of the TV commercials that were remembered (RMB) is higher and localized in the left frontal brain areas when compared to the activity elicited during the vision of the TV commercials that were forgotten (FRG) in theta and gamma bands for both categories of advertisements (PSAs and CAR). Moreover, the cortical maps associated with the PSAs also show an increase of activity in the alpha and beta band.
CONCLUSIONS:
In conclusion, the TV advertisements that will be remembered by the experimental population have increased their cerebral activity, mainly in the left hemisphere. These results seem to be congruent with and well inserted in the already existing literature, on this topic, related to the HERA model. The different pattern of activity in different frequency bands elicited by the observation of PSAs may be justified by the existence of additional cortical networks processing these kind of audiovisual stimuli. Further research with an extended set of subjects will be necessary to further validate the observations reported in this paper.
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Corey Hammond and others have done a lot of work on EEG patterns, neurofeedback and chronic fatigue syndrome:
NeuroRehabilitation. 2001;16(4):295-300.
Treatment of chronic fatigue with neurofeedback and self-hypnosis.
Hammond DC.
Source
Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
D.C.Hammond@m.cc.utah.edu
Abstract
A 21 year old patient reported a relatively rapid onset of serious chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), with her worst symptoms being cognitive impairments. Congruent with research on rapid onset CFS, she had no psychiatric history and specialized testing did not suggest that somatization was likely. Neuroimaging and EEG research has documented brain dysfunction in cases of CFS. Therefore, a quantitative EEG was done, comparing her to a normative data base. This revealed excessive left frontal theta brainwave activity in an area previously implicated in SPECT research. Therefore, a novel treatment approach was utilized consisting of a combination of EEG neurofeedback and self-hypnosis training, both of which seemed very beneficial. She experienced considerable improvement in fatigue, vigor, and confusion as measured pre-post with the Profile of Mood States and through collaborative interviews with both parents. Most of the changes were maintained at 5, 7, and 9 month follow-up testing.
