What a great smorgasbord of useful information! Thank you. The part about ASD and middle ear issues makes total sense of my childhood experience of being “vaccine” injured along with my two older siblings and all three of us repetitively rocking our heads back and forth or bouncing our heads while in the back seat of the car while making resonant sounds with open mouths in rhythmic sync with the bouncing/ rocking. Somehow our bodymind was trying to overcome the damage and reset our neurology. Knowing the way we each developed and the relationship and health challenges we have faced throughout our lives, it was a pretty successful “strategy”, but not completely. My having a continuous growth consciousness has made for ongoing progress relative to the rest of my family.
Fantastic analysis and links to resources. As a traditional Catholic I just love the Gregorian Chant. Searching for the best music therapy to mild tinnitus....
Interesting article! It made me think of myself when I am hurried attempting to get done more than is likely humanly possible - and rather tense trying to stay on track uninterrupted (generally in the kitchen). During these times I find certain sounds quite aversive. Specifically, I can state that when my son fills his particular water bottle from our particular filtered water tap, or when someone else removes his screw on metal cap from is metal water bottle, or when someone else is stirring a dip he made rapidly in a particular container - and I am racing about, I cringe when I hear these sounds- as if someone has scraped their fingernails on a chalkboard. I now realize upon recollection, that these sounds are all high frequency and if I am in stress- racing- especially so. It is as if they are blocking something. In my case it is interrupting my staying on task. I also notice that when I think to myself in words- it seems to be more low- rooted low. Hard to explain, but that would explain for me why the high pitch of these sounds shakes me out of my thinking. Does this sound absurd? I'd never thought about it before reading your article. Very thought provoking.
I do find the cooing of doves and cranes calling while flying high above to be quite soothing- lower (also quieter) pitch.
Yes, this makes perfect sense in terms of Porges's concept. I have also found stressful thoughts don't like to be interrupted. I used to totally live and work in my head, and would get angry if someone interrupted my train of thought. Cooing of doves I think mimics the cooing sound mothers make to babies. I will have to find the sound of storks, not something we have here. The maker of the myNoise website also had another website of cat purring sounds.
I thought it would make sense. I'll have to research Porge. Sounds like a font of wisdom. I have felt so many times that my thoughts are interrupted when too many people keep coming and going. I feel like I keep having to go back and try to remember what I was thinking or planning.....It is time consuming and stressful. I think it may be also related to hypervigilance, high sensitivity and perhaps a tendency towards a bit of attention deficit. Personally, I recall that when in college, I would have a really difficult time when my roommate would attempt to strike up a conversation or comment when I tried to study. Also I would do much studying in stairwells! I received great grades though!
Your comment about doves is intriguing as when my mother was on hospice , her bed was placed near her front window.. The front yard was covered in doves! At least 20-25 in her final days. (My parents had a bird feeder there.) Since her death nearly 25 years ago now, whenever I hear or see a dove I can't help but think of her, but I didn't connect the cooing to a mother making a sound to her baby. Strengthens the meaning for me further. One mother's day, one swooped at my window while I drove. It's never happened previously nor since. It really caught my attention.
I also wanted to clarify that it is Crane, not Stork that I spoke of previously. They are distinctly different. Another soothing sound for me. Cat purring! Yes!
Thanks for the cat purring sound generator. I need to mention that the sound of Cranes I find soothing is when they are flying. I have not found any link to such a thing yet, but just began a short search. If I find one, I will let you know. It is a muffled sound, perhaps due to distance above when flying in "v". But it is unmistakable once one has heard it.
I notice that movies these days tend to focus a lot on stupid sounds as if they're trying to create the sound scape too much. It's not realistic and sets off my "this is fake" feeling...
So then, it ends up being boring for me lol.
Older movies even in the 80s and 90s didn't do this. Sound equipment wasn't easy to get all that background sfx in.
I also cannot stand ASMR. I wonder why many people find it enjoyable... Is that another issue in itself or 'normal'?
I don't know why but I find this style of music more appealing than rock, pop, etc. I have never really enjoyed modern music outside the classical or 'epic' genres.
This is particularly relevant to me, as a year ago, I suffered Sudden Hearing Loss in my right ear. As it turned out, I have an acoustic neuroma attached to the Vestibular nerve, with the consequence that I have perpetual Vertigo.
It is also relevant because I have used the sound of music as a strategy for focused thinking. The music occupies, I assume, my right hemisphere, so that my left hemisphere can focus. I find that when driving for many hours, this practice allows me to see where I am going without intense consciousness of driving. In effect, seeing without consciousness. Some how I am very aware of the traffic and the road obstacles. I interpret this an embodied response to all the stimuli that I receive.
So, the partial loss of hearing has ultimately made listening in crowded spaces more difficult, and hearing the complexities of a symphony orchestra and a jazz sextet more difficult, but I am still able to communicate with people which is ultimately the most important value of my hearing.
Sorry to hear (pun not intended) of your hearing issues and the vertigo. Yes, doing things subconsciously, like driving, is an example of right brain embodied process according to McGilchrist, like a form of flow. He always gives the TT motorbike races, in the Isle of Mann, where racers go around road circuits at 200 mph. If the races start to think consciously about it, they crash.
Thank you for always pushing to improve the human condition and psyche, through education of the masses, to things they would not normally find, on their own.
Thought I would share the link below. I had my annual VA exam and the doc mentioned he'd read an article about links between hearing loss and dementia.
It was of interest as my mother was diagnosed last year and I'd just read your post on Sunday. This is the first hit I came upon and thought the topic would be of up your alley.
Thanks for this, interesting that the resulting loss would include the protective effect of calm human voices, which would tie in with my model of dementia. https://garysharpe.substack.com/p/dementiaalzheimers-as-an-ancient My grandmother declined rapidly after she was made deaf by a doctor cleaning out her ears... withdrew into herself.
I have noticed some hearing loss in my mother - during the 3 months I just spent with her and her husband this fall. It definitely added to the agitation component of the dementia. I need to suggest she go see an audiologist. Any mitigating steps are worth investigating or doing.
Excellent as usual Gary. It must be incredibly difficult to be a parent of an autistic child I imagine. Staying calm in body gesture and voice must be so difficult. My wife worked in special needs and quite often men in particular couldn’t cope . Re the appreciation of sound and space . The perpetuation of the nightingale ward environment in therapy environments was always a stressful to me . A cacophony of noise , a sterile environment hardly a recipe for calm recovery. I think learning music later on in life is one of the best things ... momentary entrainment with others in a session is great . I’d recommend this series to anyone . Finding calm and listening to others who find calm in nature , a rainy attic , walking etc is lovely. The music featured is beautiful https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001dpfv?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
This post so speaks to me, and I have many thoughts about it, thanks.
I'll just say that I've had problems with sleep since I was a teenager and have been helped by having a radio next to me with very low sound of talk radio. Otherwise, every sound puts me on alert and wakes me. Music is incredibly powerful for me, so I have to completely focus on it unless it is inane and basic. I believe that music is our greatest art form and the best able to reach the heart and mind and so believe in its therapeutic powers.
I found some sleep music on youtube which goes on for 10 hours so you can play it all night, and is supposed to entrain delta waves of deep sleep. It works for me and I have it on all night. The myNoise website also has white, brown and pink noise which can also help some folks with sleep.
My functional neurologist who is trying to get ti the bottom of my recent tinnitis of 8 years that morphed I to MEM - muddle ear myoclonus has given me cross body fast excercises as he says my right brain is overloaded. This involves 10 fast left elbow pushes followed by 2 o fast open arm push backs. Then 10 fast wrist down help t right hand. I then do q0 left leg fwd Lunges followed by right wrist down flaps (help8by left hand) then right ar. Tapping behind fleft shoulder followed by fast right arm fast pointing g to left side. To finish sequence iI do a one left squat...again fast with left leg fwd. I ha e to do these at least 5- 10 time a day. He told me to blo k Mt left ear
and li g to lopped delta wave music between 1-4 htz. I'm persisting and have noticed a decrease in tge myoclonus spadams.
He said he will test my resistance to see if my left brain has evened out.
Interesting humming g made my resistance weak whilst counting..leftbrain made it strong.
Len Horowitz was interviewed by Dr. Lee Merritt. During the interview, he discussed the perfect LOVE healing frequency to be 528 Hz. Further, he stated that John Lennon sang IMAGINE in 528 Hz, but when that fact was disseminated, the music was altered.
Thanks, I think the myNoise site also includes these solfeggio frequencies if I recall. There is no doubt something magical with John Lennon's Imagine. We sometimes sing along to it, and it is very moving.
I am not surprised you didn't get a positive response in a way, everyone is siloed into their own narrow areas of expertise these days.
What a great smorgasbord of useful information! Thank you. The part about ASD and middle ear issues makes total sense of my childhood experience of being “vaccine” injured along with my two older siblings and all three of us repetitively rocking our heads back and forth or bouncing our heads while in the back seat of the car while making resonant sounds with open mouths in rhythmic sync with the bouncing/ rocking. Somehow our bodymind was trying to overcome the damage and reset our neurology. Knowing the way we each developed and the relationship and health challenges we have faced throughout our lives, it was a pretty successful “strategy”, but not completely. My having a continuous growth consciousness has made for ongoing progress relative to the rest of my family.
Fantastic analysis and links to resources. As a traditional Catholic I just love the Gregorian Chant. Searching for the best music therapy to mild tinnitus....
The SSP of Porges is supposed to help with tinnitus, also the pink, brown and white noises on the myNoise website I think are supposed to help too?
Interesting article! It made me think of myself when I am hurried attempting to get done more than is likely humanly possible - and rather tense trying to stay on track uninterrupted (generally in the kitchen). During these times I find certain sounds quite aversive. Specifically, I can state that when my son fills his particular water bottle from our particular filtered water tap, or when someone else removes his screw on metal cap from is metal water bottle, or when someone else is stirring a dip he made rapidly in a particular container - and I am racing about, I cringe when I hear these sounds- as if someone has scraped their fingernails on a chalkboard. I now realize upon recollection, that these sounds are all high frequency and if I am in stress- racing- especially so. It is as if they are blocking something. In my case it is interrupting my staying on task. I also notice that when I think to myself in words- it seems to be more low- rooted low. Hard to explain, but that would explain for me why the high pitch of these sounds shakes me out of my thinking. Does this sound absurd? I'd never thought about it before reading your article. Very thought provoking.
I do find the cooing of doves and cranes calling while flying high above to be quite soothing- lower (also quieter) pitch.
Yes, this makes perfect sense in terms of Porges's concept. I have also found stressful thoughts don't like to be interrupted. I used to totally live and work in my head, and would get angry if someone interrupted my train of thought. Cooing of doves I think mimics the cooing sound mothers make to babies. I will have to find the sound of storks, not something we have here. The maker of the myNoise website also had another website of cat purring sounds.
I thought it would make sense. I'll have to research Porge. Sounds like a font of wisdom. I have felt so many times that my thoughts are interrupted when too many people keep coming and going. I feel like I keep having to go back and try to remember what I was thinking or planning.....It is time consuming and stressful. I think it may be also related to hypervigilance, high sensitivity and perhaps a tendency towards a bit of attention deficit. Personally, I recall that when in college, I would have a really difficult time when my roommate would attempt to strike up a conversation or comment when I tried to study. Also I would do much studying in stairwells! I received great grades though!
Your comment about doves is intriguing as when my mother was on hospice , her bed was placed near her front window.. The front yard was covered in doves! At least 20-25 in her final days. (My parents had a bird feeder there.) Since her death nearly 25 years ago now, whenever I hear or see a dove I can't help but think of her, but I didn't connect the cooing to a mother making a sound to her baby. Strengthens the meaning for me further. One mother's day, one swooped at my window while I drove. It's never happened previously nor since. It really caught my attention.
I also wanted to clarify that it is Crane, not Stork that I spoke of previously. They are distinctly different. Another soothing sound for me. Cat purring! Yes!
Thanks for such food for thought Gary!
The storks make a horrible sound on the videos I found! I will check out the cranes. Here is the purring sound generator https://purrli.com/
Thanks for the cat purring sound generator. I need to mention that the sound of Cranes I find soothing is when they are flying. I have not found any link to such a thing yet, but just began a short search. If I find one, I will let you know. It is a muffled sound, perhaps due to distance above when flying in "v". But it is unmistakable once one has heard it.
I notice that movies these days tend to focus a lot on stupid sounds as if they're trying to create the sound scape too much. It's not realistic and sets off my "this is fake" feeling...
So then, it ends up being boring for me lol.
Older movies even in the 80s and 90s didn't do this. Sound equipment wasn't easy to get all that background sfx in.
I also cannot stand ASMR. I wonder why many people find it enjoyable... Is that another issue in itself or 'normal'?
ASMR seems to be one of those you either love it or hate it things.
brilliant summary as usual Gary; thank you
As an aside, I'm quite a fan of the "Epic" music genre, e.g.:
https://www.youtube.com/user/RogueOfAvatar/videos
https://www.youtube.com/@PandoraJourney/videos
I also really love Calming Harp
https://www.youtube.com/@peregrinnatti
I don't know why but I find this style of music more appealing than rock, pop, etc. I have never really enjoyed modern music outside the classical or 'epic' genres.
This is particularly relevant to me, as a year ago, I suffered Sudden Hearing Loss in my right ear. As it turned out, I have an acoustic neuroma attached to the Vestibular nerve, with the consequence that I have perpetual Vertigo.
It is also relevant because I have used the sound of music as a strategy for focused thinking. The music occupies, I assume, my right hemisphere, so that my left hemisphere can focus. I find that when driving for many hours, this practice allows me to see where I am going without intense consciousness of driving. In effect, seeing without consciousness. Some how I am very aware of the traffic and the road obstacles. I interpret this an embodied response to all the stimuli that I receive.
So, the partial loss of hearing has ultimately made listening in crowded spaces more difficult, and hearing the complexities of a symphony orchestra and a jazz sextet more difficult, but I am still able to communicate with people which is ultimately the most important value of my hearing.
Sorry to hear (pun not intended) of your hearing issues and the vertigo. Yes, doing things subconsciously, like driving, is an example of right brain embodied process according to McGilchrist, like a form of flow. He always gives the TT motorbike races, in the Isle of Mann, where racers go around road circuits at 200 mph. If the races start to think consciously about it, they crash.
I hear ya.
https://youtu.be/H66x0Lb8Ook
Amazing work as always Gary!!
Thank you for always pushing to improve the human condition and psyche, through education of the masses, to things they would not normally find, on their own.
Thank you for the kind words!
Gary,
Thought I would share the link below. I had my annual VA exam and the doc mentioned he'd read an article about links between hearing loss and dementia.
It was of interest as my mother was diagnosed last year and I'd just read your post on Sunday. This is the first hit I came upon and thought the topic would be of up your alley.
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/hearing-loss-and-the-dementia-connection
Thanks for this, interesting that the resulting loss would include the protective effect of calm human voices, which would tie in with my model of dementia. https://garysharpe.substack.com/p/dementiaalzheimers-as-an-ancient My grandmother declined rapidly after she was made deaf by a doctor cleaning out her ears... withdrew into herself.
I have noticed some hearing loss in my mother - during the 3 months I just spent with her and her husband this fall. It definitely added to the agitation component of the dementia. I need to suggest she go see an audiologist. Any mitigating steps are worth investigating or doing.
Thanks for the link!
You can also do vagal nerve stimulation with breathing or singing.
https://by-julietbonnay.com/2020/01/relieve-stress-with-this-simple-breathing-technique/
when i watch any screens, i ALWAYS turn off the volume during the ads. sound is the main mechanism of entrainment.
Excellent as usual Gary. It must be incredibly difficult to be a parent of an autistic child I imagine. Staying calm in body gesture and voice must be so difficult. My wife worked in special needs and quite often men in particular couldn’t cope . Re the appreciation of sound and space . The perpetuation of the nightingale ward environment in therapy environments was always a stressful to me . A cacophony of noise , a sterile environment hardly a recipe for calm recovery. I think learning music later on in life is one of the best things ... momentary entrainment with others in a session is great . I’d recommend this series to anyone . Finding calm and listening to others who find calm in nature , a rainy attic , walking etc is lovely. The music featured is beautiful https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001dpfv?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
The hospitals wards are anti-conducive to sleep, and hence healing. too. Lots of LEDS, light, noises... listening now to the link...
This post so speaks to me, and I have many thoughts about it, thanks.
I'll just say that I've had problems with sleep since I was a teenager and have been helped by having a radio next to me with very low sound of talk radio. Otherwise, every sound puts me on alert and wakes me. Music is incredibly powerful for me, so I have to completely focus on it unless it is inane and basic. I believe that music is our greatest art form and the best able to reach the heart and mind and so believe in its therapeutic powers.
I found some sleep music on youtube which goes on for 10 hours so you can play it all night, and is supposed to entrain delta waves of deep sleep. It works for me and I have it on all night. The myNoise website also has white, brown and pink noise which can also help some folks with sleep.
My functional neurologist who is trying to get ti the bottom of my recent tinnitis of 8 years that morphed I to MEM - muddle ear myoclonus has given me cross body fast excercises as he says my right brain is overloaded. This involves 10 fast left elbow pushes followed by 2 o fast open arm push backs. Then 10 fast wrist down help t right hand. I then do q0 left leg fwd Lunges followed by right wrist down flaps (help8by left hand) then right ar. Tapping behind fleft shoulder followed by fast right arm fast pointing g to left side. To finish sequence iI do a one left squat...again fast with left leg fwd. I ha e to do these at least 5- 10 time a day. He told me to blo k Mt left ear
and li g to lopped delta wave music between 1-4 htz. I'm persisting and have noticed a decrease in tge myoclonus spadams.
He said he will test my resistance to see if my left brain has evened out.
Interesting humming g made my resistance weak whilst counting..leftbrain made it strong.
Interesting functional approach, thanks.
Thank you!
To every one, no matter if you live in the US, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Since you are discussing sound, I have no idea if the following information is correct, but it is totally interesting.
https://revolutiontelevision.net/video/john-lennon-plays-in-528hz-solfeggio-frequency/
Len Horowitz was interviewed by Dr. Lee Merritt. During the interview, he discussed the perfect LOVE healing frequency to be 528 Hz. Further, he stated that John Lennon sang IMAGINE in 528 Hz, but when that fact was disseminated, the music was altered.
Here is some 528 Hz background: https://www.mindvibrations.com/528-hz/ For the Rifers, I believe that 528 is the DNA repair frequency.
Intrigued, I found John Lennon's song, Imagine, in 528 Hz, as cited above.
P.S. I am disappointed that I never heard a reply relative to fascia from either Vie Light or The Tennant Institute. ...
Thanks, I think the myNoise site also includes these solfeggio frequencies if I recall. There is no doubt something magical with John Lennon's Imagine. We sometimes sing along to it, and it is very moving.
I am not surprised you didn't get a positive response in a way, everyone is siloed into their own narrow areas of expertise these days.