Audio-Visual Entrainment and Diffuse Axonal Injuries

Introduction

Audio-Visual Entrainment (AVE) is a technique using flashes of lights into the eyes and pulses of tones into the ears at specific frequencies. The frequency of the lights and tones used are in the brainwave frequency range from .5 to 40 Hz. AVE is one of the most intriguing stimulation technologies as AVE devices have been shown to influence, in varying degrees, brain activity by a myriad of influences, not simply frequency driving. As a result of these other effects, we could ponder if we should simply rename the technique as audio-visual stimulation (AVS). Our senses are constantly bombarded by AVS. Consider watching TV or sitting on a street corner watching the traffic. These activities consist of abundant quantities of AVS, yet they don’t have much of an impact on the brain. For instance, when AVE is randomized at ± 1 Hz (for example, 10 Hz would randomize from 9 to 11 Hz), entrainment is reported to provide a significant clinical impact, at ± 2 Hz, the clinical effect is poor and at ± 3 Hz, the clinical effect is all but lost. So it appears that the myriad of effects from AVS only occur when the stimulation is kept fairly rhythmic and therefore entraining, hence AVE. For this reasoning, we will use the term AVE throughout this article. Because AVE affects such a diverse range of neurological processes, it has applications spanning from simple meditation and boosting cognition to the treatment of complex issues such as depression, pain and diffuse axonal injuries (the most common type of brain injury). But first, let’s understand the physiology of AVE.

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