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TAGsync: Operation and Discussion

tagsync theta alpha gamma synchrony training neurofeedback operation discussion

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#301 Matty72

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Posted 20 June 2015 - 10:32 AM

@VE

 

Thanks Buddy, I'll give that a crack, super cool to be able to do it without spending any more money!

 

Have you been training ILF at all with TAGx1 or have you just got TAGx2?

 

I tried again with DC coupled and it was impossible, the LF threshold bar was just maxed out, so I'm assuming that's due to not using silver electrodes.

So whatever I was training before I have no idea, I guess it can only have been something around 2Hz.

 

Also I've had a load of communication from BT about the HEG maxing out at a ratio of about 111, they seemed mystified but now it just seems to have gone back to PN who are looking into it being a firmware issue.......which was your original diagnosis!

 

 

 



#302 Matty72

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Posted 20 June 2015 - 10:55 AM

 

 

I've also been really enjoying following the Brain_Trainer Autoplan especially "Con4C Gamma Sync" which Karen tells me is something similar to TAGsync and is quite trippy.

 

Hey Bobity, great to see you getting stuck into things now you've finally got your equipment. You had the opposite to me, mine almost came too quickly, I ordered it on a Wednesday afternoon and they were trying to deliver at my home on the Friday lunchtime.......I wasn't really prepared :)

 

On this Con4GammaSync what placements are you using?

 

I haven't got it as part of my plan and I see on the designs they just mention C,P and O. I gave it a crack last night after Alpha-Theta but had no idea for placements or indeed whether it matters on which channel you do each one, I'm using an electro-cap, and to minimise use of quick insert electrodes I just did Cz Pz O1 O2.

 

Also a wider question for Alpha-Theta training, do people tend to experience anything much during that, memories, emotions etc

 

I see on BT they mention imaging a desired way of how you want to be, and I find it reasonably pleasant when I do it but nothing profound as yet. Over the years anything that I've done to connect with memories and attached emotions has tended to be pretty unsuccessful, I think I just have a massive disconnect, which is probably shown by my TLC assessment, with a heap of Alpha blocking. Thinking back I've had regression hypnotherapy (even studied it), a lot of meditation, access to floatation tanks for 20 years, and a couple of trips to South America to drink Ayahuasca amongst other things and very little of it managed any kind of meaningful penetration.



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#303 VastEmptiness

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Posted 20 June 2015 - 11:42 PM

On this Con4GammaSync what placements are you using?

 

 

 

I haven't got it as part of my plan and I see on the designs they just mention C,P and O. I gave it a crack last night after Alpha-Theta but had no idea for placements or indeed whether it matters on which channel you do each one, I'm using an electro-cap, and to minimise use of quick insert electrodes I just did Cz Pz O1 O2.

 

Fz, Cz, Pz, Oz can be a starting point just as with TAGsync. Train F3 to O1 and F4 to O2 if you're looking for general intelligence enhancement (I basicly feel like having access to more information at the same time). However i'd just recommend looking through your assessment to see which pairs show the lowest Gamma and then train both EC and EO. I generally do TAGsync including Gamma EC and then my upgraded version of the the gamma protocol EO. Great Results.

 

Also a wider question for Alpha-Theta training, do people tend to experience anything much during that, memories, emotions etc

 

I see on BT they mention imaging a desired way of how you want to be, and I find it reasonably pleasant when I do it but nothing profound as yet. Over the years anything that I've done to connect with memories and attached emotions has tended to be pretty unsuccessful, I think I just have a massive disconnect, which is probably shown by my TLC assessment, with a heap of Alpha blocking. Thinking back I've had regression hypnotherapy (even studied it), a lot of meditation, access to floatation tanks for 20 years, and a couple of trips to South America to drink Ayahuasca amongst other things and very little of it managed any kind of meaningful penetration.

 

I don't do imagination unless it comes up on its own, then i'll follow the flow and intensify if i feel there is emotion to release (just like in regressive Hypnotherapy). You can try linking lower frequencies to the TAG protocol. I started including 1.5-3hz Delta and lower Theta and basicly have meaningful experiences every time. However that really depends on what you mean by that. Also I can recommend using binaural beats, specifically Holosync which tries to go really low (Delta).

 

Having done most of the things you mention and having had great results and experiences on each, I'm really wondering what you're looking for more specifically? It almost sounds like those things didn't help you/have no effect?

 

Just a guess: You mentioned being detached into Alpha. If that is true, it might actually be more useful to start downtraining those frequencies to open up he emotions in the first place. However this is all very speculative without seeing your assessment. I'm pretty sure Peter can help you with this. For me as I'm mostly struggling with massive low frequencies all over (Delta, Theta, slow Alpha, etc.), access to meditative states and inner pictures etc is all most easy, however I for example struggle to get up in the morning and stay focused without Nootropics etc. I guess if you're coming from the other side (say Beta-Brain, low slow frequencies) all of this might be more hard to do. However it's really a question of what you're looking for.


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#304 Bobity

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Posted 21 June 2015 - 08:39 PM

Soz for the delay in responding @Matty72 - busy weekend..

 

The placements as VE sugested are :

 

Block 3   Weight Active Reference 4CH Protocol State     Selectable   49.9 F3 F4 C3 C4 L(A1 A2) CON4C Gamma Sync EO 2   Protocols   45.4 F3 F4 C3 C4 L(A1 A2) CON4C MBC Up EC/EO 1   0   5.9 F3 F4 C3 C4 L(A1 A2) BAL4C Alpha Beta (Alpha) EO 3                                                

 

Be nice to catch up sometime since we're both work in town - message me if you're up for that.



#305 Bobity

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Posted 24 June 2015 - 07:45 PM

Much easier today –  there does seem to be something happening to me during the day in between the sessions but its difficult to pin down.  I’m still waking up at night – woke up this morning around dawn because my partner was awake.  I do some HRV and go back to sleep.

 

I’m doing about ½ to 1 hour of TAGsync and 1 to 1 ½ hours of BT each day and have been now for two weeks.     

 

The BT sessions this evening were quite joyous.

Weight

Active

Reference

4CH Protocol

State

92.7

Fz Pz Cz Oz

L(A1 A2)

CON4C MBC Up

EC/EO

84.3

Fz Pz Cz Oz

L(A1 A2)

CON4C Gamma Sync

EO

26.8

Fz Pz Cz Oz

C(A1)

FRE4C Squish (19-38)

EC/EO

 

At times I can feel my heart singing.  In fact the other day I found myself humming a tune – my son commented and asked what I was humming – I never hum out loud – don’t know why just never done it.

 

There is a sense of coming from a long way away – if that makes any sense – like I’ve been touched very deeply by something and finding it difficult to bring the experience back into words.

 

Such upheavals is definitely what I was after – I’d got stuck in a rut and could not find a way out any more – it was all the same whatever I did – like I was dying quietly inside.  This is undoubtedly churning it all up.

 

There is a feeling of centeredness of here ness and nowness.  Perhaps that is the effect of the TAGsync and consistently trying to reduce the volume of Beta.  There is also the matter of shifts which occur.  In sessions I often suddenly find myself dreaming one thing then another then another and I also get sucked into and deeply connected somehow with the imagery in the BT vids.  Nfb for me at the moment is very much like taking hallucinogens in many ways – I love the shifts that occur.  Its exciting and delightful.  

 

There is a cleanness and a sparkle and a quiet delight in the moments that I catch myself at work or on the train or walking or riding my bike or eating a meal.  This cleanness and sparkle is new – I’ve not noticed this before.  Like I’ve been reborn – like when I first started floating and would come out of the tank and the world was  fresh and new.  This is somehow deeper - its more about the awareness that is noticing is cleaner and sparkier like the mirror or the lens through which the perceptions occur is being polished so that it can notice more and even notice its own wonder.  Thank You.    

 


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#306 Jochen

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Posted 25 June 2015 - 03:06 AM

Awesome Bobity! Really happy you are also seeing great results!

 

Have you tried combining your NF with floating (either before or after)? I think there must be a great synergetic effect there.

 

I am experimenting with 100hz CES at the moment, and I believe it really is beneficial prior to a NF session. It basically 'resets' your DMN so the NF can do it's thing faster (purely theoretical from my side at the moment). After the session I might do a Delta, Theta or Gamma session to consolidate the session better / faster.

 

At the moment I am only focused on TAGsync but will start throwing in the CON4C Gammy Sync as wel.

 

Enjoy!

 



#307 Crowstream

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Posted 25 June 2015 - 09:10 AM

@Matty

 

I find the alpha-theta crossover protocol a bit difficult to use, my alpha is usually way stronger than theta so its hard for me to get to this crossover point. I have still gotten benefits out of using it even though I hardly ever seem to get a theta crossover, I find what helps is to be in a thought-less state completely associated and feeling the body, relaxing and releasing all control. Sometimes I have felt a kind of tingling warmth and when I focused in and felt it the theta seemed to become stronger and I went into deeper states of relaxation.

Sometimes I have had spontaneous re-experiencing of trauma, they were visual but also intensely somatic, it was like I was experiencing them completely from the bodies point of view, rather than my dissociated state. Experiencing it completely in an embodied way I think reconfigures traumatic experience so that they are no longer "blocks", its that kind of unconscious tension in the body that stores this kind of trauma I think and untreated it disturbs the energetic flow and has mental effects too. I think it can manifest as background anxiety, anger, "stuckness", etc... psychosomatic symptoms can be quite varied I think... I think the solution is to become completely embodied and allow the body to heal itself... personally I also do somatic meditation and I find this can be very healing too and it has taught me a lot about these traumatic dynamics.

 

@Bobity

 

Wow thats great, glad to hear it is working well for you  :). I also do 1 BT and 1 TAG session each day now, it can be quite intense but I like this training schedule.

 

There might be some correlation to music, I think the reason we find music pleasurable is that we are recognizing the kinds of patterns that are already present in us, we might call this harmony, I think the same thing can occur in the EEG and when we train it with neurofeedback then it more closely resembles an internal harmony. Douglas has described the EEG as a voice-like pheomena, I think maybe I mentioned this a few posts back but I like to think about this. I am not a musician but I have experienced this kind of arising of internal harmonies quite strongly to the point where I could hear musical patterns, I guess I am more mathematically minded because it made me start to think of information structures and some kind of "harmonic functions" or something like that, it was like some holistic experiencing of pattern that was quite joyous. This is more speculative but I think the art of mantra is all about these kinds of sound-mind pattern correlations, I think there is also a mathematical structure to it, related to golden ratio, fractal etc...

 

The sense of something coming from a long way away I think I experience too a lot of the time, especially when I am doing 2 sessions a day it becomes very intense. It is like I am sensing some deep unconscious formations that are coming into being, my dreams usually become intensified and lately I have become very philosophically/psychologically minded where my research in those areas becomes increasingly intensified, I guess it can manifest differently in different people. I get a sense of urgency, a kind of creative birthing takes place where I must prepare my mind for massive reconfigurations.

 

I think neurofeedback can be similar to psychedelics in their sort of reset qualities, psychedelics will usually be a more intense sort of reset, but neurofeedback training done consistently is like stacking many smaller resets and in the end it adds up and becomes something quite significant. Its more like having an ongoing flow of resetting that takes place which becomes very powerful I think.

 

@Jochen

 

I can try doing the 100hz CES before my sessions too and we can compare notes?  :) For how long do you do those sessions?

 

I think the CON4C gamma sync can be synergistic, at least I have experienced increased intensity lately when I am doing 2 sessions/day and the BT ones are highly focused on gamma for me right now.


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#308 Jochen

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Posted 25 June 2015 - 10:39 AM

@Jochen

 

I can try doing the 100hz CES before my sessions too and we can compare notes?  :) For how long do you do those sessions?

 

I think the CON4C gamma sync can be synergistic, at least I have experienced increased intensity lately when I am doing 2 sessions/day and the BT ones are highly focused on gamma for me right now.

 

would be great; I typically do these sessions for 20-40 minutes depending on my 'day schedule'.

 

I find that I need to do these kind of 'brain' topics (CES, NFB) for at least 20 minutes before I start getting a real benefit.

 

Although with CES you can get in a certain state fast, It's mainly the time spent in that state which can be beneficial if you understand what I mean.



#309 Unlimited Mind

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Posted 25 June 2015 - 07:44 PM

Hello!

 

This is a great thread. I read the whole thing at least once, and most of the posts multiple times. It was really helpful to getting started with TAG Sync. I have been using it for about a week now for a few sessions. It is subtle, but since I started actually training with TAGx2 I think my mind "clicks" more, it seems to be easier to understand complex concepts. For one, the articles that Dailey sent me (and the ones referred to here) started to make more sense. I am also able to get my brain to a quieter place when I am not doing TAGx2.

 

I also have Brain-trainer's design package and I really like their Alpha-Theta protocol. I have studied hypnosis and the AT training feels like a hypnosis session to me, plus the music BT added, helps to set the mood. I am also doing Alpha Up on P4, SMR on C4, and a 4CH protocol for increasing activation on F3, F7, FP1, and decreasing theta on CZ. The latter one was given to me by a neurofeedback provider I used to see (based on a QEEG). I also started doing HEG again using the LIFE game (I did more than 300 minutes total when I had my X-Wiz. I upgraded to the Q-Wiz early this month).

 

I am doing training almost every day, that said I try to space the activation protocols since they make my brain tired and I want to give my brain some time to recover and get used to the activation. Also based on my previous experience, I plan to keep at least four days between HEG sessions.

 

My plan is to do all of these (plus ILF) for a few weeks and then get the BT evaluation and do their whole brain plan in addition to TAGx2. I am debating whether to use their one time service for $100 or to buy the autoplan for $600. The autoplan is supposed to go to around $800 eventually. Any comments on the autoplan from those that use it?

 

 

Thanks Crowstream. Regarding the cross-frequency coupling comment, I presume the definition of the term is the sampling / training of two frequency ranges concurrently? While using the TAGX1 designs, what frequency might one sample for Rew2? Have you personally noticed any life improvements that could be attributed to ILF?

 

I have tried many frequencies for the reward 2, Douglas sent me a lot of articles about delta and how that is involved in attention, decisionmaking, and I think most importantly neuronal repair. So I tried using it together with an ILF frequency and I had very good results. It was very relaxing, and I feel as though it dissolved a lot of tension that was stored at a very deep unconscious level. So far that has been my favorite setup for TAGx1, it is: 0.01-0.5hz for reward 1 and 1-3 hz for reward 2.

 

 

I also did one ILF session (about 5 mins) with Crowstream's favorite setup and at the end it felt like I just finished crying (which I didn't). Perchaps there some unconscious emotions what were released. I am definitely doing that again.

 

 



#310 Bobity

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Posted 25 June 2015 - 08:28 PM

@Johen - I'd not thought of combining floating with nfb.  What an excellent idea.  Had a go today and it was great - vast & spacious - like starting over again.   



#311 Darkly Origins

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 10:34 PM

        I have long contended music is the culprit.  For instance, to listen to music for periods nearing twenty four hours a day, seven days a week – to listen to music often, in incredulous frequency seems to have the allotted effect of hemispheric stimulus – for regions of the brain that are responsible for creativity, ingenuity, abstract thought and mathematical complexity.  A person ascribed words to a feeling most cannot comprehend in essence, this such person had said the feelings are best described as “vastness and spaciousness.”  This is alerting to me, as that is the exact detriment I longfully keep myself astray from – as it does the neuro-networking of the mammalian brain no good, and in fact, is responsible (partly, with assistance from red meats), for bereavement, bewilderment, retardation, dementia, Alzheimer’s, depersonalization disorder, and major depressive disorder(s).  Whence adolescent, having been plagued with my brain, and consequent mind for nearly twenty years thus far, I remember attempting explanation to my Psychiatrists, my specialized treatment Doctors, etc., the best I did at such a young age was the ascription to word ‘brain-fog,’ and distortion.” As of now, being an ethologist (evolutionary psychologist), I know what it is I’m haunted with – intelligence, though – coming with a heavy price to pay, despondent indifference, sorrowful melancholia, and darkened disregard.  This is depersonalization, this is the preliminary stage for brain degeneration, as the mind slips into madness and obscure nothingness, what one feels is vastness, longing and reminiscence, and though, as aforementioned, brilliance unparalleled predates and ensues, the negations far outweigh the positives.

 

It seems, in presupposition, that these people paying large amounts of money out for ‘Tag–sync’ are using it for a variation of reasons, but the most familiarized and irresponsible Is for the legal and safe ‘high’ or euphoric bliss such experimentation entanglingly produces and grants, though, I don’t see it as safe – as such, like all else, is addictive – and not because of the drug or chemicality itself, but because of the brain’s susceptibility to primitive desire, insatiably unsated…to the infantile lust and want for more dopamine releasing, as personally, I believe that the purported propagation and production of endorphins is to our betterment, much more than dopamine is to our beneficence, as endorphins heal – and dopamine simply grants temporary highs that fuel such desires as sexual encounters, food consumption, addiction, sadism, cruelty, psychopathy, sadomasochism and irritability; whereas, for instance, endorphins can be ‘triggered’ so to speak, by this such exemplary: the molders of ones’ teeth are rotted, and cavity-ridden, whence eating and chewing, harder particles of food remnants clash with the horribly sore teeth, resonating a pain so intense (due to the extremity of the nerve variance, and nerve-sensitivity present within the mouth and head), that endorphins are instantaneously released, attempting the attenuation, affixation and healing of bodily detriments, ailments and abnormalities (anomalies).  The point is, tag–syncing may be the generational curse that bears fruits so spoiled, ushering forth anew and insatiable lust and desire for consumption.

 

That's just an excerpt from a dissertation I disseminated yesterday, after reading a page or two of Tag-sync discussion comments.

 

 

Sincerely, and most profoundly yours,

 

 

Jacob A. Eder;

 

 


Edited by Darkly Origins, 26 June 2015 - 10:38 PM.

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#312 Bobity

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 11:40 PM

@UL

 

Looks like we're starting about the same time...

 

"My plan is to do all of these (plus ILF) for a few weeks and then get the BT evaluation and do their whole brain plan in addition to TAGx2. I am debating whether to use their one time service for $100 or to buy the autoplan for $600. The autoplan is supposed to go to around $800 eventually. Any comments on the autoplan from those that use it?"

 

I went through the same debate myself.  In the end I decided on the autoplan.  This has enabled me to generate plans for family members and will also let me create subsequent plans for me further down the line when i'm done with the current one.  If you can spare the cash I'd say its worth it.  There is also I'm sure much insight to be gained from looking at the various reports and seeing how these relate to the autoplan generated.

 

"So far that has been my favorite setup for TAGx1, it is: 0.01-0.5hz for reward 1 and 1-3 hz for reward 2.

I also did one ILF session (about 5 mins) with Crowstream's favorite setup and at the end it felt like I just finished crying (which I didn't). Perchaps there some unconscious emotions what were released. I am definitely doing that again."

 

I'll give '0.01-0.5hz for reward 1 and 1-3 hz for reward 2' a whirl.

Also what is Crowstream's favorite setup ?  

 



#313 Unlimited Mind

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Posted 27 June 2015 - 12:02 AM

 

Thanks Crowstream. Regarding the cross-frequency coupling comment, I presume the definition of the term is the sampling / training of two frequency ranges concurrently? While using the TAGX1 designs, what frequency might one sample for Rew2? Have you personally noticed any life improvements that could be attributed to ILF?

 

I have tried many frequencies for the reward 2, Douglas sent me a lot of articles about delta and how that is involved in attention, decisionmaking, and I think most importantly neuronal repair. So I tried using it together with an ILF frequency and I had very good results. It was very relaxing, and I feel as though it dissolved a lot of tension that was stored at a very deep unconscious level. So far that has been my favorite setup for TAGx1, it is: 0.01-0.5hz for reward 1 and 1-3 hz for reward 2.

 

 


 

@UL

 

Looks like we're starting about the same time...

 

"My plan is to do all of these (plus ILF) for a few weeks and then get the BT evaluation and do their whole brain plan in addition to TAGx2. I am debating whether to use their one time service for $100 or to buy the autoplan for $600. The autoplan is supposed to go to around $800 eventually. Any comments on the autoplan from those that use it?"

 

I went through the same debate myself.  In the end I decided on the autoplan.  This has enabled me to generate plans for family members and will also let me create subsequent plans for me further down the line when i'm done with the current one.  If you can spare the cash I'd say its worth it.  There is also I'm sure much insight to be gained from looking at the various reports and seeing how these relate to the autoplan generated.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence on the autoplan. That's what I am thinking too (getting updated plans as I ago), although I don't see much interest from family members at the moment. Is not that I have extra cash, but I can make it happen if needed. I guess I will decide when I am ready to have a plan made.

 

 

I'll give '0.01-0.5hz for reward 1 and 1-3 hz for reward 2' a whirl.

Also what is Crowstream's favorite setup ?  

 

 

That is his favorite setup. See his quote on my previous post.



#314 Bobity

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Posted 27 June 2015 - 07:47 AM

Did a long TAGsync AlphaTheta Sesh sesh this morning.  @Jochen was talking about it taking at 20 minutes to get going.  So I thought I’d just try a long one.  Lots of anxiety came up in waves – knots in the stomache,  disembodied worries,  like hungry ghosts,  the whole gamut.  I just sat with them and breathed through them like riding waves,  or calming a child that’s woken from a nightmare. There was one particularly strong one late on in the sesh, which appeared really suddenly.  I’d had the thought several times during the sesh that the beta I’ve been working on reducing is the frozen remnants of traumas.  Anyway this particularly strong one got me curious and I opened my eyes to see the screen I’ve attached.

 

https://www.dropbox....c Beta.jpg?dl=0

 

Reward 1/2 is 5-9 Hz / 9-11Hz.

 

The left part of the Spectrum Analyser shows me happily training - almost no beta !!! the middle bit shows the sudden surge of beta and the end bit is me with my eyes open before I pause the screen so that I can capture the screen image.  

 

Note the middle bit is very like what I was generating eyes closed when I started.

 

Anyway I’m delighted.  After all these years of all kinds of weird and wonderful practises,  I can see I’m finally getting to the real stuff thats driven me to search and practise all along.



#315 Bobity

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Posted 01 July 2015 - 06:20 PM

Check this out @Jochen and others into TCS - eeg + tcs in one cap !  Downside it coase £7k... http://neuroelectrics.com/



#316 VastEmptiness

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Posted 07 July 2015 - 06:57 PM

i'm in the process of building a set of designs that aim to surpass both the TAGsync designs and the CON4C coherence designs. i studied either as well as other designs that reward synchrony and came up with the following build, which gives me crazy results so far for the Gamma band basicly anywhere i tried it so far. this is 38-42hz, 100% TrueSync means perfect phase alignment, the other one is coherence as measured in bioexplorer. i'm looking to create ones for each band and also an UltimateSynchrony-protocol which links all of the wanted bands together to find out what an all-coherent brain feels like ;) also will be trying this with ILF, had some very good results using the bands Crow used in TAGsync both for bipolar as well as 4-channel. synchrony training stays my favorite after all.

Attached Files


Edited by VastEmptiness, 07 July 2015 - 06:58 PM.

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#317 Bobity

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Posted 08 July 2015 - 05:24 AM

if you need any testers VE I'm VERY interested in what you're doing - sounds amazing.


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#318 Jochen

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Posted 08 July 2015 - 11:47 AM

good stuff VE! Once I am back from my holiday I will be able to post a bit more again.

 

Enjoy the day folks ...



#319 Unlimited Mind

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Posted 08 July 2015 - 04:58 PM

if you need any testers VE I'm VERY interested in what you're doing - sounds amazing.

 

Same here :)



#320 imlookingforthetruth

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Posted 08 July 2015 - 10:54 PM

Hi guys!

 

I'm new to this thread and NFB in general. I'm a little pissed right now, because I had been writing a long post about a long session (over 3 hours) with Douglas Dailey today, and had lots of good answers I thought you would find interesting. 

I lost all the text when I hit backspace. I have all the answers in a text document, but the formatting there is very bad, so I need to write it over. I will post at a later time perhaps.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to say hi to everyone on here. I recieved my Qwiz last week, and I'm very excited to start training with TagSync in Bioexplorer. 

My first session today was okay, but I need to get a grip on getting good signals. Has anyone posted something about getting good signals in this thread? (I haven't been able to read through it all yet)

 

I'm starting with NFB because I've been struggling a lot in the last few years. Anxiety (mostly social anxiety), anger/irritability issues, and perhaps mild depression. 

I've been meditating a lot, but my mind haven't really settled down on what to believe in, and I'm always a little freaked out in my sessions.

I've found that NFB is just what I was looking for, having real time feedback is just so great for giving me a direction to go as for what mental states I should seek. That has been one of my biggest problems in meditation.

Just seeing on a screen, that yes, I'm actually producing a lot of beta waves right now, is somewhat comforting. It makes me feel that I actually have something I need to work on. Not just another thought about how I'm already enlightened, and that I've just haven't seen it yet. I guess that could still be the case, but I do know excessive worrying is not exactly enlightenment, and just to see some real progress will help me greatly.

 

So, tips for getting good signals, but I also have another question to those of you who are experienced: 

For a person starting out with TagSync (and all the various designs and stuff you can do), what do you recommend? What is something you know now, that you wished you knew when you started?

 

 


Edited by imlookingforthetruth, 08 July 2015 - 10:58 PM.


#321 OpaqueMind

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Posted 09 July 2015 - 05:16 PM

Welcome to the party dude :] It would be great to hear some of the aspects of the conversation you had with Douglas, he is a fountain of fascinating knowledge.

 

VE posted something a little while back about discerning signal quality, which is a good metric - if it looks like a hairy eyebrow, you're doing it wrong. The thinner the better - preferably the width of the line should be a millimetre or so. It's not a catastrophe if it isn't - I've had good sessions even when the signal line is 5mm thick or so - but of course, the thinner the better. It becomes more important to get very clear signal the higher up the frequency spectrum you go, since there is a roughly inverse relationship between frequency and amplitude, meaning higher frequencies generally relate to lower amplitude, and lower amplitude means that the signal to noise ratio will generally be less favourable.
 

To start you can't go wrong with Alpha-Theta down the midline. Douglas generally recommends fixing up the midline, then moving onto frontoparietal sites, and sometimes across the midline also. I can recommend that you get into 4 channel protocol as soon as possible, to maximise effect/time ratio. Also 4 channel (custom setup) is great for inducing deep meditative experiences. However since you have high beta you may want to work on modulating that first, on the normal 2 channel setup.

 

Something I wish I knew when I was first starting NFB is the importance of proper SMR regulation. SMR is generated in the thalamus, which acts as a kind of conductor or information gateway to the higher cortex - as such it plays a key role in generating and maintaining synchrony. If you have thalamic dysregulation and you try to train sync protocols, your progress will be significantly hindered. SMR can be trained with the TAGx1 protocol, running either 12-15hz or 13.-14.3hz as a single channel amplitude setup, with the active electrode just in front of Cz. Indications of thalamic dysfunction are attention problems, insomnia, seizure-like activity, migraine, anxiety and tics. The thalamus plays a predominately inhibitory role, and excess beta is indicative of excessive excitation, so I can recommend that you train SMR first, either running through say 20 or 30 sessions before getting into sync training, or doing it alongside. SMR sessions are usually 30 minutes at a time and typically require around 20 sessions for full consolidation, potentially more depending on the severity of the dysfunction. You may feel better at say 10 sessions in, however it is important to keep training since at that point the beneficial changes are not yet properly consolidated - hence why 20 or so sessions is recommended.

 

Good luck :]


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#322 Unlimited Mind

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Posted 09 July 2015 - 08:42 PM

About signal quality, the brain-trainer (BT) designs package has a design called "signal quality" that can be used to check the impedance of the connection (if you have a Q-Wiz). According to BT anything less than 50k is acceptable. Most of my connections are less than 10k since I started using the prep gel to clean the skin area before attaching the electrode.

 

BTW, for those that have the Q-Wiz, there is a new firmware available that fixes an HEG issue:

http://pocketneurobics.com/drivers/


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#323 Alin Samson

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Posted 09 July 2015 - 10:10 PM

Hy guys,I just started the training with TAGx2 quiet reward (Alpha &Theta) but from unknown reasons for the moment I get way too much phase resets(like one at 2-3 seconds).Eventhough I have some experience with different kinds of meditation,I still find higly unprobable to get this :)

Please with you be so kind to give me some help because I think I am doing something wrong or even worse I do not know what I am doing at all.


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#324 hza

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Posted 10 July 2015 - 07:17 AM

I've been wanting to ask the long-time users of TAG, now that they've had probably hundreds of sessions and months or even years to integrate the training, what sort of cognitive enhancements or improvements they've noticed.  We read a lot about inner states of consciousness, but not much about brain functions like memory, cognition, musical, mathematical, or athletic abilities, overall physical coordination, sleep requirements--all of the mundane functions that nfb ideally improves for us over time.  Can we get some reflections on that here?  


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#325 Bobity

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Posted 10 July 2015 - 07:23 AM

Welcome Alin good to see others starting too.

 

Too many Phase Resets is easily fixed : On the TAGx1 Instruments 1 screen there are two thresholds on Reward1 & Reward2,  one for if the signal drops below the lower threshold - Manual Target 1 and one for if the signal goes above the upper threshold - Manual Target 2.  If you increase the upper thresholds a bit, either my clicking on the upper line and moving it up or by right clicking within the black display area and typing in a new value on the Thresholds Tab for Manual Target 2 for one or both of the rewards you’ll get less Phase Reset pings.  By increasing the threshold values a little now and again you create more of a challenge for the brain.  

 

I’ve had the similar things happen imlookingforthetruth with losing what I’ve written in a post – I tend to write stuff outside of the forum and then paste it in. 

I’d too be interested in what Douglas had to say in your sesh with him.

   

 

 



#326 VastEmptiness

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Posted 10 July 2015 - 08:46 PM

on signal quality

 


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#327 zensauce

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Posted 10 July 2015 - 09:27 PM

Hello everyone, apologies in advance for the noob content of this post. I just purchased and downloaded the TAG sync protocols (or designs, as I believe DD prefers to call them), though I am unaware of how to properly install the files onto bioexplorer (the readme file mentioned something about an installation guide being somewhere on mindsupplies, though I was unable to find one anywhere). I already emailed DD, though he has thus far yet to get back to me, and I was wondering if someone would be so kind as to give me some advice? Thanks in advance.

 

Also, I just want to say thanks and amazing job on this thread; the amount of information and generosity on behalf of the posters is incredible, and I imagine it will be invaluable as I begin my TAG sync journey (just as soon as I can overcome my technological incompetence  :laugh: ).


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#328 VastEmptiness

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Posted 11 July 2015 - 12:03 AM

You can just open the design with Bioexplorer, don't think there needs to be any additional install.



#329 zensauce

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Posted 11 July 2015 - 12:47 AM

Thanks, yeah the major thing I was worried about was the fact that there was no "media" folder in bioexplorer for me to paste the media files of TAG sync into, so I ended up simply pasting the TAG sync media folder into the bioexplorer folder (at this point it's too early to tell if that's fine, since I haven't run any session yet, though the designs have opened just fine).

 

One other issue that I still don't understand (though perhaps it will become clearer to me as I begin a session) has to do with the threshold levels. For example, I don't exactly understand what OpaqueMind is referring to when he says "Set Threshold 1 Manual Target 1 to a value that yeilds an 80% silence through time of the Tone Generator 1 noise," Does that mean I am supposed to listen to the beeps after running the session and estimate how much of the time it is silent? (perhaps you could give me an example of a value that works?) 

 

Thanks in advance.



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#330 Crowstream

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Posted 11 July 2015 - 10:28 AM

@imlookingforthetruth

 

To get started, I would look in to the work of Les Fehmi, heres a podcast with him: http://www.futurehea...100219-817.html (you might have to register but it is free).

Here is his website: http://openfocus.com/ - he has some really good documents there for free in his shop, like attention to attention and mastering our brains electrical rhythms.

 

He is a Princeton researcher who has done a lot of work on neurofeedback, especially on the alpha frequencies. I think alpha rhythms are key to meditation, basically those rhythms seem highly related to our awareness and mode of attention. Higher alpha levels is related to what Fehmi calls open attention, a kind of expansive state of awareness, I think it is probably similar to Zen. Zen monks have been shown at least to produce higher alpha levels in their meditations.

 

In my studies of psychology I have found that many consider attention to be a higher cognitive function than thinking for example, because attention allows us to operate on thought. It can also allow us to enter states of no-thought should we desire to. A high degree of mastery of attention means we are no longer controlled by a constant internal dialog but can learn to shift our being and mode of awareness, I think this is what allows us to develop tranquility and peace of mind.

 

Also I would say I have found it highly useful to modify the designs to provide continuous feedback (rather than only intermittent), I have connected mp3 files so their volume is controlled by my delta/theta/alpha amplitudes... that has made it easier for me at least to train my meditative skills since I know exactly when I am producing more or less alpha and how much.

 

 

@hza

 

I have experienced a lot of subjective shifts, but yeah that is hardly quantifiable  :). I have not made a careful study, like doing intermittent objective tests for things like memory and such, it would have been nice to have that kind of data but for me the training itself was always the most important so it took priority.. I have seen measurable changes in my EEG data over time, but that data requires interpretation of course so its not really like seeing memory improvement in tests.

I would say it feels like to me at least that my sleep has become incredibly efficient, I fall asleep right away almost always, within a few minutes of going to bed and I always feel very rested when I wake up. I did not have sleep problems before this but my subjective experience at least is that sleep may have been improved. Wished I had a sleep monitor system from the start of doing this since it would have been interesting to study sleep changes over time.

 

 

@zensauce

 

Welcome, glad to have you on board this crazy brain experiment  :) . You can see how often the threshold is triggered in the design and that will give you the number, I prefer to use automatic thresholds on the reward signals so you dont have to keep re-adjusting them manually.

 

I tried to upload an image of the reward thresholds, hopefully you can see them. The right one is set to auto, and the thresholds both at 80, what I think this does is that the signal will be above the lower one 80% of the time and below the higher one 80% of the time, with the quiet reward that would give you 80% silence since in that design you get a sound when it is below threshold.

You can also use manual of course, then those same numbers that are 80 and 80 on the auto, in this example, will keep changing since the signal is changing and with manual you have to keep re-adjusting it unless you get to some stable level where the signal is about the same.

 

I just started up the design to make the screenshot so I didnt run any data through there so when you are running your sessions it will probably look a bit different.

 

Hope that helps! 

 

 

 

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