top of page

Sound and AVE Therapy

Effective treatment for:

  • Anxiety

  • Stress

  • Depression

  • Insomnia

  • PTSD

  • Pain management

  • Focus and Energy

  • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

  • Fibromyalgia and chronic pain

What is Sound and Audio-Visual Entrainment (AVE) Therapy?

Sound has been utilized in various cultures for thousands of years as a tool for healing. Sound helps to facilitate shifts in our brainwave state by using ‘entrainment’. Entrainment synchronizes our fluctuating brainwaves by providing a stable frequency which the brainwave can attune to. By using rhythm and frequency, we can train your brainwaves to down-shift our normal beta state (normal waking consciousness) to alpha (relaxed consciousness), and even reach theta (meditative state) and delta (sleep; where internal healing can occur). Biolife Health Center uses sound and AVE therapy in conjunction with counseling, biofeedback, neurofeedback, and other modalities. 

 

In addition to sound, Biolife Advance uses Audio-visual entrainment (AVE) as a subset of brainwave entrainment. Our AVE therapy uses lights and pulses of tones to guide the brain into various states of brainwave activity. Altering brainwave activity helps in the treatment of psychological and physiological disorders.

 

What it treats

 

Using sound as therapy can provide results for a variety of issues, including:

​

  • Anxiety

  • Insomnia

  • Stress

  • PTSD

  • Pain management

  • Limbic stabilization

  • Improved neurotransmitter production

  • Increased cerebral blood flow

 

What does Sound and AVE Therapy do, and how does it work?

 

Sound therapy treatment is both a passive and participatory experience. The passive aspect is that you become more relaxed by lying down and slowing your breath. By doing this, you prepare yourself to become the receiver of sound. It's in this place of stillness that you participate by becoming more open and aware of each sound that comes in. Sound helps create the pathway to this place of stillness, the same way a mantra helps you arrive at the still point of meditation.

 

Sound not only helps induce relaxation but also moves through areas of blockage. The physical body is where we experience localized pain and discomfort. Using Audio-visual entrainment, we can stimulate the release of Nitric Oxide, a free radical molecule that has been proven to positively affect pain transmission and control. This, in short, means that these frequencies help to create a physiological reaction. In contrast, the sound itself helps to influence our auditory system, enabling us to modify and heal psychological and physiological disorders.

 

Biolife Health Center sound and AVE technology is a noninvasive method that restores healthy cell signaling and improves mitochondrial function. It does this by shifting the nervous system from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state. Once this state is reached, it lowers blood pressure and improves the immune system's performance.

 

Our sound and AVE technology use specific sound frequencies created from human sounds. Human-generated sound is the most effective carrier and delivery system of much higher beneficial sound frequencies. Our brain and body are hard-wired to readily resonate and entrain with the human voice. The human voice can elicit not only a physiological response but often a powerful, transcendent and transformative emotional one as well.

 

AVE consists of constant, repetitive stimuli of the proper frequency and sufficient strength to ‘excite’ the thalamus and neocortex. These stimuli do not transfer energy directly into the cortex. The direct transmission of energy from AVE only goes so far as to excite retinal cells in the eyes and pressure-sensitive cilia within the cochlea in the ears. The nerve pathways from the eyes and ears carry the elicited electrical potentials into the thalamus. From there, the entrained electrical activity within the thalamus is "amplified" and distributed throughout other limbic areas and the cerebral cortexes via the cortical thalamic loop. AVE involves the continuous electrical response of the brain in relation to the stimulus frequency plus the mathematical representation (harmonics) of the stimulus wave shape.

 

Side Effects

 

Most people have no ill effects from sound therapy and AVE. The most common side-effect is simply feeling a little ‘spacey’ for 5 to 10 minutes. You should NOT use Sound and AVE if you have brain or neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy) which may be triggered or aggravated by rapid light fluctuations. 

 

Scientific Evidence

 

Studies show that BioLife Advance sound therapy reduces stress and nervousness while creating a deeply relaxed state, which in turn helps with sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, stress management, PTSD, pain management, limbic stabilization, improved neurotransmitter production, and increased cerebral blood flow.

 

A review of 20 studies on sound and Audiovisual entrainment (AVE) found that it is effective in improving cognition and behavioral problems and alleviating stress and pain. One study on children with attention-deficit disorder found that AVE was more effective than neurofeedback for treating ADD symptoms. Another clinical study showed declines in depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation following a treatment program using sound and AVE.

 

Sound and Audio-visual entrainment devices on women suffering from seasonal affective disorder demonstrated that both depression and anxiety symptoms were reduced in participants, as compared to a placebo. Participants also reported improved social life, with increased happiness and sociability, decreased appetite, increased energy, and weight loss. Another found significant decreases in depression scores in participants after four weeks of using sound and AVE.

TESTIMONIALS

“One month has passed since I received the mind machine and I have used it with my son every morning. I find remarkable improvements in his behavior. He has also started to learn much better and got his first positive appraisals from teachers. Next, I am planning to use it for mood sessions for concentration and logic.”

​

Marina V.

“I have had major difficulty sleeping due to ADHD since I was a baby (now 29) and been on sleep medication on and off since I was a teenager. This is the first mon-medication thing that has really helped at all. It is pretty incredible!” 

 

Allyson M.

“This service works great and there are so many options available. I use it for relaxation and sleep mostly and it works great. When I first used a light sound machine it helped with memory and depression. I have used this one 6-7 times and it’s really great. I think you will love it as much as I do.” 

 

Milani E.

“I have had my share of physical health issues too, but overall my sessions have helped me stay calmer and more resourceful with getting to the bottom of what goes on in my body. There are different programs that you can use depending on what your need is. I have asthma and so the deeper breathing is very welcome. I feel that this system is helping retrain the way I habitually breathe.” 

 

Deborah M.

  • What is Biofeedback?
    Biofeedback is a process that enables an individual to learn how to change physiological activity for the purposes of improving health and performance. Precise instruments measure physiological activity such as brainwaves, heart function, breathing, muscle activity, and skin temperature. These instruments rapidly and accurately “feedback” information to the user. The presentation of this information — often in conjunction with changes in thinking, emotions, and behavior — supports desired physiological changes. Over time, these changes can endure without continued use of an instrument.
  • What conditions are helped by Biofeedback training?
    Successful outcomes, not limited to those listed below, have been reported by Neurofeedback Practitioners for: ADD/ADHD, addictions. anger, anxiety, autism, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, closed head injuries, concentration, depression, headaches and migraines, learning disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), pain management, reading skills, seizure disorders, sleep disorders and stroke recovery. Biofeedback has also proven effective when used for Peak Performance Training, such as developing memory skills, focusing abilities, and increasing concentration.
  • What childhood conditions is Biofeedback successful in treating?
    Biofeedback has been used to treat seizures and subclinical seizure activity, problems of attention and learning, bipolar disorder, autistic spectrum, and other conditions.
  • Why does Biofeedback work?
    The brain is amazingly adaptable. It is capable of making adjustments to improve its own performance if given cues about what to change. When the brain is regulating itself well and is alert and attentive, brainwaves (EEG) show particular patterns. We challenge the brain to maintain this “high-performance” alert and active state. Gradually, after 20 or more training sessions, the brain learns to stay at this high-performance state for longer periods of time and to retain these new skills.
  • Do the effects of Biofeedback training really last?
    If the problem being addressed is one of brain dysregulation, then the answer is yes, and that covers a lot of ground. Biofeedback involves learning by the brain and if that brings order out of disorder, the brain will continue to use its new capabilities, and thus reinforce them.
  • How is Biofeedback training done?
    At a training session, sensors are placed on your body. The sensors pick up information on your brain’s and body activity at very specific locations. (No electricity enters your brain. The sensors merely read information from the brain and body and relay it to the Practitioner’s computer.) You then sit back in a comfortable chair as you watch a computer monitor that displays a computer game, a movie, a bar graph, music, sounds or simply colors that change as your brainwaves change. The Practitioner monitors your brainwaves and sets training parameters which are based upon information obtained during your comprehensive intake process. This process gives your brain instantaneous feedback about its performance during the training session. On a subconscious level it begins to “work out” and It begins to produce more of the helpful type of brainwave patterns and less of those that are correlated with the symptoms you wish to address. With practice, your brain learns new patterns. Desirable neuronal pathways are strengthened and new pathways are created.
  • How long do sessions last?
    Each session takes between 45 and 60 minutes. The actual training period lasts a maximum of 30 minutes. Additional time is needed beforehand for sensor placement and adjustment. We also speak with our clients briefly before and after each training session to monitor how things are progressing. We reserve 60 minutes for each client to ensure that no one is rushed and that there will be time to discuss the results you are experiencing.
  • How many sessions will I need?
    Results from Biofeedback training are seen gradually, over time. Initial progress can be seen within 10 sessions for most conditions. A typical treatment program consists of between 15 and 30 sessions, depending upon the conditions being addressed, with the average being 15 sessions. Current understanding among Biofeedback providers is that it takes a minimum of 20 sessions for learning to be consolidated so the client can maintain the gains that have been made. Sometimes a client will complete 20 sessions, take a year off, and then return to complete training.
  • How frequent should the training session be?
    When starting neurofeedback training, sessions should be regular and frequent at two or three (or more) sessions per week. As learning begins to consolidate, the pace can be reduced.
  • What happens if Biofeedback clients are taking medication?
    With successful Neurofeedback / EEG Biofeedback training, the medications targeting brain function may very well no longer be needed, or they may be needed at lower dosages, as the brain takes over more of the role of regulating itself.
  • What is the research on Biofeedback?
    Research continues to show that biofeedback therapy training, results in patients learning to control their own brain activity, while effectively “retraining” their own brain waves toward healthier patterns. Since its inception in the 1960s biofeedback has been rigorously studied. A recent review of the term biofeedback on the National Institute of Health’s database ‘PubMed’ reported that Biofeedback has gained attention in recent years showing only 948 articles and peered-reviewed research published between 1990 and 1995, and 2,267 published since 2010 to present. For current researh articles and publication visit our research page here.
  • What is Neuroplasticity and how Biofeedback plays a role?
    Historically the brain was seen as hard wired with each area having its own function; when that area was injured the function was lost. Today the concept of neuroplasticity has replaced the hard wired model. Neuroplasticity refers to changes in neural pathways and synapses which are due to changes in behavior, environment and neural processes, as well as changes resulting from bodily injury. Neuroplasticity occurs on a variety of levels ranging from cellular changes due to learning to large-scale changes involved in cortical remapping in response to injury. The role of neuroplasticity is widely recognized in healthy development, learning, memory and recovery from brain damage, all from which Biofeedback can help.
  • How to prepare for a medical evaluation?
    Get a good night’s sleep (Try to get eight hours the night before your exam so your blood pressure is as low as possible.) Avoid salty or fatty foods. (Salty, fatty foods elevate your blood pressure and triglycerides. Avoid them for at least 24 hours before your exam, and two or three days would be even better.) Avoid exercise. (We’d never tell you not to exercise. But strenuous exercise before a medical exam can elevate your heart rate and drop your potassium levels.) Don’t drink coffee or any caffeinated products (Keep your blood pressure down and avoid caffeine for at least one hour before your exam.) Fast (Don’t eat for at least two hours before the exam to keep blood sugar and blood pressure from elevating. Twelve hours of fasting is preferred, so try to schedule your exam in the morning so you can fast overnight.) Drink water (To help produce a urine sample, drink water two hours before your exam.) Know your meds (Have a list of any medications (prescription and OTC) you’re taking for the examiner to record.)
bottom of page