Brainscams: Neuromythologies of the New Age

Author(s): Barry L. Beyerstein

Source: International Journal of Mental Health, Vol. 19, No. 3, Unvalidated, Fringe, and
Fraudulent Treatment of Mental Disorders (Fall 1990), pp. 27-36
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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Int. J . Ment. Health , Vol. 19, NBo. 3, pp. 27-36
M. E. S harpe, Inc., 1990

Barry L. Beyerstein

Brainscams: Neuromythologies
of the New Age

Glib, painless routes to insight and mastery are perennial best-sellers [1]. Moun-
tebanks are sure to flourish wherever credible authorities decline to produce the
impossible and the hopeful are willing to substitute cash for time and effort.
In the United States alone, an estimated $30 billion is spent annually on
employee training [2]. Increasing numbers of "New Age" entrepreneurs are en-
tering this lucrative field, vigorously marketing unproven techniques for enhanc-
ing employee efficiency [3]. The best customers for this "new look" in
performance enhancement have been large corporations, government agencies,
and, especially, the armed services.
Inundated with proposals to remake their personnel with techniques devel-
oped outside established human factors research, the U.S. Army recently turned
to the National Research Council (NRC) to evaluate some of the most heavily
promoted packages [4]. Several of these purport to apply new breakthroughs in
brain research to improving intellectual, motor, and social skills; others offer
blueprints for deploying psychic warriors in the national defense. In scrutinizing
promoters' claims, the NRC committee was repeatedly confronted with scien-
tific-sounding rhetoric that, for the most part, masked a glaring lack of scientific
expertise. Not surprisingly, very few of the assertions of improved learning, task
performance, social effectiveness, stress management, etc., were backed up by
acceptable research.

Neurology's success: role model

for the "neurology of success"

The areas of science that enjoy the greatest prestige at any moment are the most
tempting targets for appropriation by pseudoscientists.1 Capitalizing on dramatic
progress in the neurosciences, the merchants of personal success were quick to
commandeer neurological jargon to provide a patina of authority. Scientology's
"engrams" and its notorious "e-meter" were pioneers in this trend [7]. Reviewing
several recent books on "how to improve your brain," Miller [8] found similar

The author is with the Brain Behavior Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Simon
Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6, Canada.

27

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28 BARRY L. BEYERSTE1N

oversimplifications of highly complex issues and a penchant for merely restating

shopworn positive thinking clichés and social gamesmanship gambits in naive
neurological form.
It has become fashionable, even for books and courses that contain useful
advice, to gild the lily with irrelevant "neurologizing." Some works, such as
Hutchison's Megabrain [9], provide adequate popularizations of selected areas
of neuroscience, but fail to connect them to the mental improvement methods
they extol. Others, such as those of the John-David Learning Institute, the Mon-
roe Institute, and the Zygon organization, provide virtually no credible scientific
support for their wares.
Many brain changers pin their hopes on either or both of two problematical
concepts: a "universal mind" (the fount of all inspiration) and the "subconscious
mind" (the organ that can achieve wonders that normal awareness cannot). Mod-
ern physiological psychology doubts the existence of the former [10], and most
of cognitive psychology disputes the mind expansionists' peculiar view of the
latter [11].
Probably the favorite neural myth of all time is the notion that normal people
use only 10% of their brains. I have speculated elsewhere on the origins of this
unfounded belief [10,12]. I think it retains its appeal because it is so comforting
to believe that the only difference between mediocrity and genius is the propor-
tion of active brain cells, something so easily remedied by the multitude of
"brain trainers" catering to the "Me Generation."

The brain trainers

Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) is one of many riders on neurology's coat-

tails. NLP purports to enhance trainees' interpersonal influence and skilled per-
formance by manipulating mental "representational systems." Though it claims
neuroscience in its pedigree, NLP's outmoded view of the relationship between
cognitive style and brain function ultimately boils down to crude analogies. NLP
basks in effusive testimonials, but the NRC committee could unearth no hard
evidence in its favor, or even a succinct statement of its underlying theory
[4. Ch. 8].
Perusing an in-flight magazine recently, I was taken aback by the extrava-
gance of the promises made by the SyberVision organization, dealers in the
"AfeMrapsychology of Achievement." In fact, it sells visual imagery exercises
only remotely linked to brain research. To the delight of "couch potatoes" every-
where, SyberVision asserts that its "scientifically formulated" principles of "neu-
romuscular programming" can impart various skills via videotapes. It offers
"neuropsychological" routes to an encyclopedic memory, weight loss, choles-
terol reduction ("life extension program"), foreign language proficiency ("guar-
anteed in 30 days"), plus improved performance in skiing, golf, and tennis.
Visualization exercises have been found to effect modest improvements in cer-

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 BRAINSCAMS 29

tain kinds of motor performance, but I could see no obvious connection between
such demonstrations and SyberVision's psychophysiological pretensions.
The NRC committee visited SyberVision to inquire about its alleged neuro-
logical underpinnings. Once again, company officials were able to produce only
personal endorsements and speculative analogies. They admitted they had no
proper validation research, but would make no commitment to carry out or fund
the necessary studies [4. P. 69].

Localization of function -
real and imagined

The rise of the New Age movement has accelerated the rate at which genuine
insights into the brain-mind relationship are being misused to lend respectability
to pseudosciences, but the practice has a long history. In the last century, there
emerged several character-reading/training systems based on the realization that
separate parts of the brain are responsible for different psychological functions.
Phrenology, the most egregious overextension of valid research into func-
tional specialization, postulated circumscribed "organs" of the brain, each de-
voted to a trait such as "secretiveness" or "benevolence." Cerebral localization of
function is well documented (see, for example, Gazzaniga [13]), but the brain's
subunits in no way correspond to the highly specific "faculties" the phrenologists
proposed. Like its New Age descendants, phrenology played upon anti-elitist,
anti-intellectual sentiments, offering to put an all-encompassing system of expla-
nation and self-betterment in the hands of the common citizen [14].
Phrenology's influence is still apparent in the work of many "pop psycholo-
gists" who claim extraordinary results because they can target their instruction to
particular functional zones of the brain. Zygon's "Brain Booster," for instance,
offers to stimulate the "pleasure centers" of the brain. Similarly, the John-David
Learning Institute's 1988 Whole brain learning catalog promotes tapes that
"speak to pre-designated areas of your brain/mind." This, it claims, will foster
"Ultra-Intelligence" and tune up the immune system through the "Psychoneuro-
logy of Healing." With his "accelerated learning" tapes, John-David modestly
proclaims, "it could be possible to achieve your maximum, your fullest potential,
the genius of Einstein, Bell, Voltaire, Buckminster Fuller, Edison."
The small print admits such heights cannot be guaranteed, but the tapes "are
backed by John-David's 20 years of research in brain/mind expansion." The
Learning Institute also promotes such questionable products as alpha-theta train-
ing (see below), subliminal messages, flotation tanks, and a $3,700 machine to
"allow your brain/ mind to sync." Though John-David says numerous hospitals
and universities are testing his devices, not a single peer-reviewed study is cited.
Hammer [15]) could find no reputable neuroscientist who would endorse the
techniques of John-David or his numerous competitors, but he found many who
condemned them. After polling proponents for hard evidence, Hammer con-

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30 BARRY L. BEYERSTEIN

eluded: ". . . nobody has ever presented a double-blind, scientific study to sub-
stantiate claims that [such] stimulation can lead to brain growth, learning en-
hancement, memory retrieval, serenity, or self-confidence" (P. 135).

Brain waves - passive shaping

Practically since the earliest discovery of the brain's electrical activity, there
have been attempts to relate the electroencephalogram (EEG)2 to occult powers
[16]. Revived interest in altered states of consciousness and Eastern mysticism in
the 1960s intensified the search for brain states that might account for such
experiences. When the EEGs of proficient meditators were examined, most were
found to produce an abundance of alpha activity (sustained rhythmic waveforms
with a frequency between 8 and 13 Hz). These subjects, while meditating, also
tended to be resistant to distractions that block alpha activity in nonmeditators.
Although these findings are reliable as far as they go, they led to the unwarranted
assumption that alpha waves in the EEG cause the subjective experience and
putative benefits of meditation.3
The enthusiasm of the 1960s alpha partisans might have been more restrained
had they reflected for a moment on the long-established fact that infrahuman
species (which presumably do not meditate) also produce alpha waves, as do
hyperactive children and most people who simply close their eyes and avoid
concentrating [16]. In other words, alpha waves may be a correlate of meditation,
but the two are not causally linked.
Research already available when the alpha-meditation link was proposed sug-
gested that alpha denotes a lack of attention to visual input or imagery
[16,18,19]. Though it is true that meditators who adopt certain attentional strate-
gies will probably generate alpha waves, alpha is equally likely in other states of
diffuse attention. The alpha trainers' soothing messages notwithstanding, the
mere presence of alpha in one's EEG cannot guarantee the absence of anxiety,
fear, or arousal. Orne & Paskewitz [20] demonstrated this dramatically by show-
ing that people could learn to produce copious alpha in threatening situations that
were far from dreamy, meditative bliss.
Built upon the unsupported notion of alpha-meditation equivalence, a new
industry sprang up, using the technique known as biofeedback,4 to teach people
to augment their alpha production. With the aid of EEG feedback, enthusiasts
suggested that one could easily learn to enter an "alpha state" at will and thereby
enjoy the same well-being and heightened performance ascribed to meditation.
Although most brain researchers doubted the existence of a unique "alpha state,"
EEG feedback establishments began to advertise relief from stress and various
physical and psychological complaints. When well-controlled evaluation studies
were finally done, it became clear that the putative advantages of alpha feedback
were yet another example of the ubiquitous placebo effect [16].
If alpha can coexist with both tranquil reverie and its exact opposite, why did

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 BRAINSCAMS 31

patrons of alpha parlors report a pleasurable, dreamy, "alpha experience" with

such regularity? It seems that the attributes of "alpha consciousness" are the
predictable consequences of clients' expectations and certain ancillary features
of alpha training. The latter include reduced mobility, focusing of awareness on
the monotonous feedback signal, and waning attentiveness to the generally im-
poverished surroundings [19]. In our laboratory, we found that subjects who
were not already expecting to enter an enjoyable conscious state were equally
likely to find alpha feedback pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral [16]. We also found
that a few predisposing suggestions were sufficient to produce a pleasurable
"alpha experience," even when we were secretly giving feedback that suppresses
alpha.
Other investigators have questioned what is really being learned during alpha
conditioning. After training, individuals' alpha output with eyes open cannot
surpass the levels achieved with eyes closed before feedback. Thus, it is likely
that in the typically dull, unchanging, training environment, clients were simply
becoming habituated to visual and other distractors that initially suppressed
alpha when their eyes were open [18,22].
To compound the fiasco, evaluations of the personal EEG feedback devices
sold to the public showed most of them to be technically flawed [16].
Customers' apparent satisfaction with these machines that were sensitive mostly
to artifacts underscores their placebo value.
A distinguishing feature of pseudoscience is that errors are rarely corrected by
new research. Amid Hutchison's [9] "techniques for brain growth and mind
expansion" are misconceptions about alpha waves that were debunked a decade
earlier. And, according to The San Francisco Chronicle [23], Silicon Valley's
new MindCenter is still peddling the same discredited procedures in its expen-
sive "mind fitness" program for executives. For the less-well-heeled, a lay sci-
ence magazine [24] carries a full-page ad for Zygon's $49.95 "brain booster." Its
"Supercharger/Subliminal Mindscripting System" will, in only 28 minutes, "zap
stress, boost your brain power, and unleash awesome creative and intuitive pow-
ers." Because its operative principle is subliminal, you need not be in-
convenienced by hearing it during use. Though Zygon promoters remain true to
the old alpha gospel (it's "like a catnap"), their real love is "the theta window,"
which, they claim, is "akin to a deep meditative state."

Theta to the rescue

As competent research began to tarnish alpha's popular image, many devotees

transferred their enthusiasm to the EEG theta rhythm (3.5-7 Hz). The avowed
benefits of "alpha consciousness" were shifted, on equally poor authority, to the
theta band. Though the properties of theta are of interest to legitimate research-
ers, their usefulness for mind expansion is debatable. Theta activity indicates
reduced vigilance, and may therefore be a correlate of inattentiveness during

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32 BARRY L. BEYERSTEIN

meditation, but the value of trying to increase theta production has never been
satisfactorily demonstrated [16]. Contrary to suggestions that theta can enhance
performance, there is evidence that efficiency may be improved if theta output is
suppressed [4. Ch. 5; 25].

Intrusive "brain tuning"

Alpha and theta feedback have been eclipsed at the cutting edge of conscious-
ness expansion by gadgets that employ pulsating light and/or sound to drive
certain EEG frequencies [9,15,26]. In the best traditions of "neurobabble," the
ads suggest that brain "repatterning" will foster effortless learning, health, cre-
ativity, and prosperity. The tuners that offer to alleviate anxiety and stress are
claiming little more than the benefits of a warm bath, but some make promises
that would probably be actionable under statutes governing the sale of medical
devices. The latter claim to improve immune responses, make fat people thin,
and even cure substance abuse and dyslexia.
Most "brain tuners" exploit the EEG "frequency following effect" discovered
in the 1940s - that is, pulsating rhythms induce synchronous firing in large
groups of brain cells [27]. This sort of monotonous stimulation has long been
known to alter consciousness and emotions. Indeed, ritual drumming, chanting,
breathing, and movement have emerged in many cultures as ways of inducing
"transcendent" states [28-31]. The latest fad in pop psychology has been to
combine EEG driving with prevalent misconceptions about functional differ-
ences in the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

Hemispheric confusion and

that "sync-ing" feeling

Demonstration of the specializations of the two halves of the brain has brought a
well-deserved Nobel Prize to Roger Sperry and much unearned income to a
swarm of hemispheric "educators." Some of the latter vow to improve productiv-
ity by simultaneously feeding different tasks to the left and right hemispheres,
which they naively think of as operating in virtual isolation.5 One branch of New
Age hemis-therapy seeks to accentuate left/right differences while another
claims it is advantageous to force the hemispheres to "synchronize." The Monroe
Institute recommends their Hemi-Sync audiotapes to unify left with right for fun
and profit [26]. Two tones differing slightly in frequency are presented, one to
each ear, through earphones. The perception of a third tone, equal in frequency
to the difference between the other two, is purportedly evidence of the hemi-
spheric interaction mediating Hemi-Sync's therapeutic effects.
These "binaural beats" were discovered by Dove in 1839, and auditory physi-
ologists have long been aware that they produce frequency following in the
EEG. Monroe was the first to suggest any connection with health, enhanced

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 BRAINSCAMS 33

performance, and psychic powers. Unfortunately for his explanatory hypothesis,

binaural beats are associated with neural interactions in brainstem auditory cen-
ters, not in the cerebral hemispheres [33]. Oster, the foremost researcher in the
area, has been listening to binaural beats for decades without once having a
mystical or out-of-body experience [26].
The NRC panel pressed the Monroe Institute for support for Hemi-Sync's
advertised benefits. The "research" they received failed to include controls for
placebo, expectancy, and compliance effects and hopelessly confounded the
experimental variables [4]. One of these "studies" inadvertently suggests a pla-
cebo response - the clients improved even though the entraining tones were
delivered through speakers at opposite ends of a classroom, inadequate condi-
tions for the production of the supposedly therapeutic binaural beats.
Another telltale sign of a pseudoscience is ignorance of relevant research,
in this case, work on "EEG coherence." Although the Monroe Institute
claims that Hemi-Sync can alleviate childhood autism, pain, and "nervous
disorders," as well as accelerate learning, it seems unaware of evidence that
EEG coherence of the sort it advocates has been associated with decreased
intellectual performance [34].

Potential harm?

Whenever the New Age brain manipulators are challenged, critics typically
encounter anecdotes and user testimonials where there ought to be rigorous pre-
and post-treatment comparisons. In addition to the likelihood of squandering
money and time chasing illusory benefits, there are other, darker considerations
as well. Examination of promoters' literature reveals disinterest in possible ill
effects. For instance, neurologists have long known that pulsating stimuli can
trigger epileptic seizures in susceptible people. Nonetheless, the Monroe Insti-
tute recommends Hemi-Sync for patients suffering from seizure disorders! Re-
garding brain stimulators in general, the MIT neuroscientist George Adelman
[35] cautioned ". . . stronger warnings about some ill effects - epileptic seizure,
emotional upset, mental confusion - are in order."
Even greater concern is raised by the increasing popularity of brain stimula-
tors that pulse electrical currents through the brain [36,37]. Animal studies have
demonstrated a neural change known as "kindling" [38] in which initially harm-
less trains of electrical pulses acquire the ability to trigger full-blown seizures
with repeated administration to normal brains.
In the long run, perhaps the heaviest cost exacted by the neuromythologists is
the one common to all pseudosciences - deterioration in the already low levels
of scientific literacy and critical thinking in society. The purveyors of neurobab-
ble urge us to equate truth with what feels right and to abandon the common-
sense insistence that those who would enlighten us provide at least as much
evidence as we demand of politicians or used-car salesmen. New Age slogans

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34 BARRY L. BEYERSTEIN

such as "You create your own reality" reinforce our deep-seated longings for
arcane formulae that will achieve our goals through imagination rather than
perspiration. It would indeed be nice if mental and physical limits applied only to
those who concede their validity. While distorting the real accomplishments of
science and raising false hopes, pseudosciences also divert personal and societal
energies from valid efforts to solve life's problems.
Instead of deriving techniques from relevant research and subjecting them to
impartial scrutiny, the gurus of self-improvement tend to rely on their own
experience and alleged insights into "what works." Much research on the fallibil-
ity of human judgment makes it clear why such affirmations are so unreliable,
even if they enjoy surface plausibility [39]. Common cognitive shortcuts make
us prone to overrate the effectiveness of treatments and, ironically, these unwar-
ranted impressions are often accompanied by especially strong feelings of cer-
tainty. Thus, double-blind, placebo-controlled evaluations of all medical,
psychological, and educational interventions are essential [40]. Failure to under-
stand, let alone abide by, these simple rules permeates the self-improvement
industry. Consumers ought to be wary of sales campaigns that promise effortless
or exceptionally rapid proficiency when these have eluded competent researchers
for so long. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Acknowledgments

I should like to thank Elliott Marchant for his valuable assistance in preparing
this manuscript and Charles Lebo, Susan Beyerstein, and Loren Pankratz for
their helpful suggestions.

Notes

1 . Pseudosciences outwardly resemble legitimate sciences, but lack their methodologi-

cal rigor, internal consistency, and self-correcting safeguards [5,6]. Pseudosciences are
long on immaterial causes and nonreproducible results, but short on modesty in their
claims.

2. The electroencephalograph summates the minute voltages generated by individual

nerve cells as they process information. These signs of neural activity can be detected
with electrodes placed on the scalp. EEG waveforms change predictably with arousal,
attention, sensory activity, and other cognitive functions.
3. It should also be noted that the evidence that meditation per se is a reliable means
of alleviating the effects of stress and hyperarousal has been disputed [17]. It is not certain
that any reduction in arousal that may occur during meditation is unique to that state or
that it will generalize beneficially to the more hectic intervals between meditation periods.
4. Biofeedback, another largely unrealized hope of the 1960s [21], attempts to teach
voluntary control over previously involuntary bodily functions. Electronic sensors provide
immediate feedback about physiological changes that normally have no conscious corre-
late. Though biofeedback may have some limited applications with other physiological
systems, the value of trying to alter EEG activity in this manner is highly doubtful.
5. For good critiques of the "dichotomania" that pervades most of "pop psychology,"

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 BRAINSCAMS 35

especially the training techniques derived from misconceptions about the functional dif-
ferences between the left and right hemispheres, see Hines [32] or Druckman & Swets
[4. Ch. 6].

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