Introduction
All the processes that happen in our Brain are called waves in Science, like Thought Process, thinking process etc. These waves are the indicator of the person’s mental state. Just as we measure the Heart Beats through an Electrocardiogram E.C.G which records the electrical activity of your heart at rest. It provides information about your heart rate and rhythm, and shows if there is enlargement of the heart due to high blood pressure (hypertension) or evidence of a previous heart attack, in short it gives you the status of the heart condition, Similarly to measure and check the Mental state of the mind we need to track the Brain Waves which is done through the help of Electroencephalography EEG which is an electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain. Just as ECG is considered the Medical method for checking the heart as also EEG is considered on the same parameter for the brain and it is considered by science as the benchmark for measuring Brain Waves.All the processes that happen in our Brain are called waves in Science, like Thought Process, thinking process etc. These waves are the indicator of the person’s mental state. Just as we measure the Heart Beats through an Electrocardiogram E.C.G which records the electrical activity of your heart at rest. It provides information about your heart rate and rhythm, and shows if there is enlargement of the heart due to high blood pressure (hypertension) or evidence of a previous heart attack, in short it gives you the status of the heart condition, Similarly to measure and check the Mental state of the mind we need to track the Brain Waves which is done through the help of Electroencephalography EEG which is an electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain. Just as ECG is considered the Medical method for checking the heart as also EEG is considered on the same parameter for the brain and it is considered by science as the benchmark for measuring Brain Waves.
The communication that happens in our brain is a result of the electrical activity that happens in our brain. For different situations and at different times we have different types of electrical waves that are formed. Millions of such electrical waves combine to create different sets of brain patterns which are known as Brain Waves.
All the emotions, relations and our behaviour coupled with our responses are based on the communication that occurs across the neurons that are present in our brain. Our brain houses billions of neurons, these neurons communicate with the help of electrical waves which gives rise to the brain waves. To understand this better let us for the time being compare brain waves to musical notes. Let us assume that low frequency brain waves are equivalent to the notes of a flute and the high frequency brain waves is akin to Drum sounds. For music to be melodious and enjoyable you need a combination of both low frequency and high frequency music in a seamless amalgamation. Similarly in the brain also a combination of both the brain waves frequencies is required to complete any task. These Brain Waves depending on what we are doing will either increase or decrease in frequency. The ideal situation for the brain to be in is to have the optimum mix of low frequency and high Frequency brain waves.
Based on the Research done brain waves have been divided into five main categories. These categories are Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta and Gamma brain waves. Let us understand what each brain wave group stands for.
BETA (14- 38 Hz)
When the EEG shows this brain frequency on the graph it is said that the person is in the BETA state of mind. This state of mind is when the person is in a lot of Stress, anxiety, Is angry or is under pressure, it can also happen when the person is very Afraid and is fearing something. During this state of the mind the person’s health is at a low and his immunity system also goes down. Our anxiety and our uneasiness or our involvement and response to our work on hand is based on the beta brain waves. In everyday situations we generally are always in the Beta Wave Mindset.
Alpha (8 – 13.9 Hz)
Relaxation, Super Learning, relaxed focus is the indications of Alpha brain waves. This is the best state of mind to be in to learn new things. During this state of mind we get Innovative Ideas. The person is full of confidence and relaxed in this state of the mind. The mind does not dwell on unproductive and destructive thoughts in this state of the mind. We are only able to spend a limited amount of time in this state of mind. This state of mind is just when we are going to sleep or the mindset that we have first thing in the morning when we wake up. This is the state of mind when we meditate. That is why training is required to attain the right state of mind or the Alpha Level state of mind.
Theta (4-7 Hz)
The State of your mind when you are asleep is called the Theta level. This level is good for Learning and for the development and strengthening of memory. During this level the person tends to become more creative and his behaviour also changes for the better. The person is also able to retain learned material for longer periods of time. This is also called as the advanced Problem solving state. The person is more open to learning and their acceptance level is also high and hence this is called the motivation, understanding and most stable state of mind.
Delta (0.2 – 3.1 Hz)
During this stage, the growth hormone of the person is released. We do not have any sense or feeling during this stage of mindset. This is called as the dreamless sleep mode and this state of mind is achieved. These are the lowest frequency of waves.
From the above, it is clear that if we were able to control the brain waves as per the situation or as per our requirements then we could get amazing benefits. To do this we require a researched and well-defined training which will enable us to control our brain waves. One of the many institutes which help train children in the age group of 7 to 16 years old is Brain Child Learning which has a spread across 13 countries and has its learning centres in India. You could visit their website brainy.co.in for further details on how Brain Waves can be controlled under their training program.