Mind/Brain and Entrainment

by Tim Brunson, PhD

Cognitive neuroscientists continue to seek further relationships between neural structures and behavior (Raz et al. 2006). The previous chapter discusses that neuroplasticity explains how the brain can reorganize. This occurs normally when dormant (or less used) parts of the brain take over a function of another part of the brain due to events such as a stroke. Scientists involved in researching the savant syndrome recognize that prodigious savants somehow tap these hidden reserves of the mind (Treffert, 1989; Walsh & Pascual-Leone, 2003; Evans, 2007). So it is reasonable to deduce that a brain can easily entrain since it has this dormant or hidden potential readily available.

It is possible to use the imagination capability of the right orbitofrontal (R-OFC) to create a mental reality to which the brain must entrain. The brain can react by reassigning tasks to the under-used sectors, by reconnecting patterns of neurons, by allowing stem cells to generate more neurons, and/or by changing the pattern of cerebral blood flow to activate a different set of substrates. The theory here is that a person can (with or without the help of a clinician) create a mental image to which the brain will entrain.

This theory has a firm basis in clinical experience. For instance, a person seeking a behavioral change – such as smoking cessation – will normally focus on their efforts to "try to quit", the cost of tobacco products, the negative effects of tobacco use on their sense of smell or taste and their the long-term impact on their health. It is clear that the subject has an obsession with their image of being a smoker. Remembering that Hebb (1949) maintained the use it or lose it principle of Hebbian Learning, their overwhelming focus on their self-image as a smoker serves to reinforce the neuro-physiological patterns associated with the habit. This is like "nurturing the weeds. " [This pun is intentional. This is a useful phrase to use with patients as it helps them realize that by focusing on something that is not desired they reinforces it (i.e. Hebbian Learning).]

Many clinicians who work with smokers attempt to desensitize the positive effects (i.e. relaxation, combating boredom, etc.) typically associated with the habit. They also may seek to concentrate on underlying causes that they may address psychotherapeutically. However, should they seek to weaken the attraction to smoking, the patterns are still there and the chance that the habit will come back is significant.

On the other hand, if the clinician establishes a competing neuro-physiological pattern with all the positive benefits of smoking cessation, there is a better chance that the desensitized habit will wither away. This new pattern must have significantly more powerful weights (i.e. emotional intensity) so that it can overpower the patterns related to the unwanted habit.

This alternate pattern requires that the subject accept extremely potent suggestions and/or imagery. This then becomes a new reality to which the other elements in the mental system must adapt. This is how entrainment can affect purely mental processes. This technique can be extended into enhancing sports performance, improving learning capabilities, and any other skill or task that primarily emanates from the brain. Of course, this can extend to somatic healing should the subject also create a mental image that they are a person who has enhanced powers of rejuvenation.

The International Hypnosis Research Institute is a member supported project involving integrative health care specialists from around the world. We provide information and educational resources to clinicians. Dr. Brunson is the author of over 150 self-help and clinical CD's and MP3's.