Claude Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Brain machine 'improves musicianship' Scientists have created a technique that dramatically improves the performance of musicians. The system - called neurofeedback - trains musicians to clear their minds and produce more creative brain waves. Research, to be published in the journal Neuroreport, indicates the technique helps musicians to improve by an average of 17% - the equivalent of one grade or class of honours. Some improved by as much as 50%. Students were assessed on two pieces of music before and after neurofeedback sessions. Neurofeedback monitors brain activity through sensors attached to the scalp which filter out the brainwaves. These filtered brainwaves are then 'fed back' to the individual in the form of a video game displayed on a screen. The participant learns to control the game by altering particular aspects of their brain activity. This alteration in brain activity can influence performance. A panel of expert judges found the 97 Royal College of Music students improved in a number of areas, including musical understanding, imagination, and communication with the audience. The technique has already been used to treat epilepsy, alcoholism, attention deficit and post-traumatic stress disorders, according to the researchers from Imperial College London and Charing Cross Hospital who conducted the study. But Dr Tobias Egner said: "This is the first time it has been used to improve a complex set of skills such as musical performance in healthy students." And Professor John Gruzelier added: "While it has a role in stress reduction by reducing the level of stage fright, the magnitude and range of beneficial effects on artistic aspects of performance have wider implications." Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/heal...lth/3091595.stm Published: 2003/07/24 01:26:03 GMT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 AH HA! I knew playing all those video games was good for somethin'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 (edited) So where do I get one of these machines? Time to Google! Edited July 24, 2003 by 7/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Great! Another piece of gear we gotta schlep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Great! Another piece of gear we gotta schlep! Ha! I know what you mean...I've been rehearsing in a dance studio in Brooklyn. Huge space, wooden floors, sounds amazing, no problems playing loud, beautiful view...and it's on the second floor. Ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Weil Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 The system...trains musicians to...produce more creative brain waves. Man, my brain waves are more creative than your brain waves.... Simon Weil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Same here. Now if I can only harness that creative power for good instead of evil.... :rsly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 I seem to remember something similar in the late 60s, only w/o the video game aspect. "Alpha State", "Biofeedback", or something like that. And isn't this similar to what Scientology claims to do, training your brain waves to reach a "clear" state, or some such? Be afraid, be VERY afraid... I'll stick to the tried and true methods , thak you very much. If you need a machine, that's too modern for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 I'm super-squeezed for time right now, but I couldn't resist making this contribution to the conversation: not mentioned in this article is the fact that this technology was orignally developed to help fully "locked-in" patients (ie patients fully paralyzed and without the ability to speak) comunicate with the outside world. There really IS such a thing as "brain waves" -they are the background EM waves emited as a risidual effect of the electrical activity in the brain. What is extremely surprising, given that brain waves are something of an emergent phenomenon (that is, a phenomenon that is the risidual effect of many other elementary effects), is that patients really can be trained to control the form of their brain waves well enough to use specially designed word-processing software to compose sentences. There was a fascinating article (I think it was in the NYer about a year ago) about a fully paralyzed man who wrote a complete novel using such software. I guess my point is that, while the whole "17% improvement" bit is a head-scratcher (how the hell are they coming up with THAT???), the technique isn't as whacked out as it may seem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 I think there's been a 17% improvement in the quality of posts since yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Yes, but I'm back now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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