707 replies to this topic

[Bogumił Hrabal]

Hi,

 

Great thread. I was wandering whether you (TAG users) experienced some cognitive enhancement in general or specific area of - so called - intelligence. And whether it helps with verbal (including auditory) working memory (for example when reading) and comprehension. I know that F7/F8 and T5/T6 sites are related to language processing. Has somebody trained these sites?

Edited by Bogumił Hrabal, 24 April 2015 - 01:27 AM.

[Crowstream]

@Bogumil

 

I feel like it has some cognitive enhancing effects, it is just my experience though. Lately I have been getting A:s in physics pretty easily, feel like I can comprehend that quickly. I dont have a before-after comparison though so I dont know what my results would be before TAG Sync training.

My reading comprehension has always been good, but after TAG Sync training I have read probably hundreds of articles in neuroscience and some other subjects and many many books, so I feel like I have improve there, my memory has probably improved but again, thats just my subjective experience.

 

I have not tried training F7/F8 or T5/T6 with TAG Sync at least, I have done some brain trainer sessions on those sites. I might try it out with TAG Sync always nice with better reading comprehension...

[Christlover]

Hello and thanks for the info,

 

You've have done a pretty convincing job (especially Opaquemind) in promoting the virtues of the q-build + TAG sync combo till I read the first post on this topic... the setup... what are all those steps? Could I possibly operate the equipment successfully without wasting it or my mind? Then digging through the posts and Opaquemind's low frequency set ups... I wondered whether someone could take all this great info and generate a wiki yes with picture steps and profile sections on the several types of possible setups experimental or not i.e. 4 Channel Low Freq, Introductory TAG-1 profile along with purported benefits. This would open the door for documenting setups for non-spiritual setups as well such as treating ADD which apparently only neuroptimal is documented to treating it.

 

Unless all the technical info is gathered, illustrated and simplified to be mass consumed, I'm afraid that a lot more people like myself are going to be watching from the sidelines instead of reaping the benefits of your research.

[OpaqueMind]

@Bogumil, I have noticed a definite improvement in my cognitive abilities yes. Logic, memory, intuition, social communication bandwidth and so on have all been significantly improved. One of the most noticeable aspects for me personally is in creativity, but not in any specific domain, just a general overall enhancement in the variability and fluidity of novel expression. For instance, I play the guitar, and when I first started doing TAGsync I went from not being that good to being fluent in flowing and innovating on the spot. Like my body and my mind become aligned and I can express my being fully in the moment, the guitar becomes an extension of myself and my mind. I think it is because the TAGsync state is one of deep flow, tending towards optimal information processing as focus shifts from the diffuseness of past and future oriented narrative towards the direct felt experience of the moment. We might call it a deep engagement. Right here, right now (as the enlightened sage Fatboy Slim once said). I find this makes me more efficient and flexible at most things I put my mind to, including thinking. The deep peace engendered by extensive TAGsync training is also very conducive to thinking. We must feel safe to venture into the unknown, both in the mental and physical worlds. A stressed mind is repetitive and ruminative. Novelty, creativity and exploration are very difficult to engage in this harried state. A peaceful mind on the other hand is varied and exploratory. Perhaps others can chime in with their experiences in how all this TAGsync training has shifted their emotional landscape and consciousness in general? Even though the intellectual/creative aspects are great, the powerful emotional shifts in the positive direction in my everyday feeling in life, my resilience in the face of stressors and my joy in engaging with the everyday, feels much more personally significant. Before I started this whole journey I was really depressed much of the time, but now I have access to what I like to call 'Bliss on tap', by just closing my eyes and resting in a space of unpollutable consciousness.

 

@MrChristLover, making a wiki is a good idea, the linear format of threads is not really conducive to efficient access to all this great material and reports in here. I hope they don't get lost over time. If anyone would like to contribute to making a wiki, get in touch with me. I would definitely be up for spending some time on making one. I think we have much of the information already present on these threads, we just need to find it and categorise it on a wiki page. It would also be a good place to post and collate the extensive neuroscience literature on the functions of different cross frequency couplings, brain circuits and thus different NFB approaches. And to grow our collective knowledge in a more orderly way   

 

By the way don't let that formal list of how to use the protocol intimidate you.. it's really very easy once you are familiar with how it works (which doesn't take long to learn). Quite a lot of those instructions are just for setting up the protocol initially. I think whenever you write out exhaustively and formally how to do many things that seem subjectively simple you'd end up with a list that appears quite complicated, but when internalised you engage the task without a second thought. I had pretty severe drug induced brain damage when I started this whole thing, I could barely hold a thought together, but I managed to get to grips with the operation of this tech, so it can't be that difficult 

[Alin Samson]

Thanks everyone for the great input .I am really glad that you decided to share your experiences and benefits with the rest of the comunity.The fact that you can correct so much brain-related problems without any type of chemicals is amazing.I decided to buy this mainly for correcting some problems related to ADHD,anxiety...but I would like also to quantify for example,the influence of various spiritual practices( Reiki, Munay Ki,Qi Gong,various types of praying)  on the EEG.

Edited by Alin Samson, 27 April 2015 - 07:47 AM.

[Jochen]

well I have just ordered my set from brain-trainer (arrival around mid May). Excited to start this journey as well!

 

Would be great if we could have some small hangouts (or skype or whatever) with the people that are doing this. We can then write our experiences, findings in the wiki-to-be.

 

Thanks go mainly out to Crowstream and Opaquemind (and the other people) in this very informative thread :-).

 

[nootz]

 I have to warn people that even amongst clinicians there is talk of irritation, mania

independent of protocol or the design of the protocol, and there seems to be a theme

in the community  amongst practitioners to sweep it under the rug.

 

That being said just because it is distressing in the moment doesn't mean it can't be ultimately healing,

though by the same token it doesn't mean it is for example feeling much better having recovered from a hangover

but is it wiser not have one in the first place?

 

I thought of trying a different protocol , but was turned  off that some

use binaural beats as well, having felt really scrambled by those

 

so it'd be good to hear from anyone who to quote a famous movie

crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side

 

 

hot take alert: Dan Gilbert on the correlation  between emotional/financial investment

and  happiness

 

Edited by nootz, 28 April 2015 - 08:57 PM.

[hza]

FYI George Martin is considering creating an ILF design for BioEra (Q-WIZ compatible and with none of BioExplorer's current limitations) if enough people are interested to make it a worthwhile project.  I don't want to post anyone's email address on an open forum, but if you're interested there are contact links on his site http://northstarneurofeedback.net/. 

[OpaqueMind]

Thanks for the heads up Hza, that would be very cool I found that you actually can train ILF frequencies on BioExplorer, all the way down to 0.001hz, but the limitation is that you cannot drop the upper frequency limit down below 0.2hz. This seems significant because in the Othmer Protocol Guide they mention that to optimise the training we need to find the 'sweet spot', that most people's was around/below 0.1hz, and that paradoxically for such slow frequencies even small changes to the frequency parameters eg shift of 0.001hz could cause quite dramatic changes in state and thus the efficacy of the training. It seems that the relationship between the lower and upper frequency parameters determines in some way the primary frequency trained, iirc it is determined by the median value between the end frequency settings as set on a logarithmic scale, so for instance the predominantly trained frequency in a 0.001hz-0.1hz session would be around 0.01hz. That said doing the training outside your optimal parameters is certainly not worthless, I have had good results with it regardless. I would like to have an ILF design that can be fine-tuned more but I don't have the cash for another NFB platform at the moment. George Martin said that BioEra is a more versatile designs platform, I think he said he was porting his entropy protocols onto it too for this reason. So maybe it would be worth it in the long run I wonder if there is a way to reward mutuality of synchrony dynamics, so instead of the audio feedback getting louder as one increases sync within a given frequency range, it would get louder as two (or more) frequency ranges come closer into sync with one another. I think that would be quite powerful as a modification to TAGsync but I don't know if you can do that with any existing NFB platforms. If anyone is a software designer here maybe it would be possible to mod that function into bioexplorer or something

 

@Nootz, I have not noticed irritation or mania with any of the protocols I have used. I find I can sometimes be highly energised for the rest of the day after a TAG session, and that might mean being more enthusiastic and creative and so on, but I wouldn't call it mania, which I associate with excessive joy, strong disinhibition and poor decision making; basically it doesn't feel like an imbalance. Irritation I don't get either, I'm just really peaceful But sometimes after long sessions I get this vague sense of melancholy or disquiet, which from practice I think is psychologically repressed experiences coming to the surface. When I feel this I just quiet my mind and meditate for a while and it gives them space to integrate and dissolve, then I feel even better than I did before training. If these reactions have an energetic temperament beyond your usual baseline and then dissipate soon afterwards, I think that they are symptoms of a psychological rebalancing, the expunging of imbalanced mental energies. It's certainly not a river of shit though haha, perhaps just like being caught in the rain for 10 minutes or so.

[Meggo]

@Opaque mind

Did you change any of the filter settings for ILF training? The original design uses a Butterworth filter with order/length of 6 which gives you a delay of about ~4s at 0,1Hz while using an order/length of 1 will result in a delay of <1s. To accentuate frequencies <0,1Hz an elliptical filter @2 or a fir@500 seem to be quite fast.

[Bobity]

Jochen I like your idea of small hangouts.  I'm also awaiting delivery of my setup from mind supplies.  I also like the idea of the wiki iloveChrist

[nootz]

seems several people have reported started out with one protocol, having issues with it and then doing better on a different one, however

it  MAY be that the initial work involves some sort of catharsis regardless of which protocol you start out with.

 

There is also the issue of non responders who are likely under represented on these threads.

Better clinicians admit this

 

and while it'd be nice to hear their results from working with a lot of patients

 

we can provide more impartial feedback.

Good, bad, or ugly.

 

The poll seems like a great way to do this though it does require a bit more explanation

 

http://www.longecity...up-to-the-hype/

 

[Matty72]

 

 

Welcome on board! Very happy to read this as I feel a deep gratitude myself to all contributors here, as they made the final difference of me actually putting up the money and going into this.
As for a step-by-step introduction: I'd recommend you to start with HEG Life as it's almost Plug- and Play. For the assessment you should seek the help of Braintrainer support. Their products & the assessment includes support in setting it up and with any trouble you'll run into in the beginning.  Karen has been very helpful. Having technical support done by a long-term Neurofeedback trainer was definitely much more efficient than getting help by some guy in a call-center in India.


 

 

Thanks for the advice VE, I appreciate it.

 

I've been training with the HEG Life game over the last week and I will be using Braintrainer for the assessment, I've just been trying to get things set up here at home to be able to get to the point to send them over assessment material.

 

Hopefully I'll have some progress to report sooner rather than later!

[Alin Samson]

Btw,I was curious,do you long time users of TAGsync protocol observed any development of psychic abilities?I know it's quite difficult to quantify something so volatile,but I guess from the moment that you optimised  your neurological circuits it's highly posible to develop such abilities!

[Crowstream]

@Alin

 

I believe it may be possible to develop such abilities. I know it is a controversial topic, but the studies I have looked at has convinced me that probably everyone has some psychic ability. This may just be a part of how the universe works (entanglement, holographic, fractal etc)... Like anything else though it is like a skill that can be developed and some people are more talented than others. The studies done by Michael Persinger and others on psychic Ingo Swann showed activation of theta waves especially over his right hemisphere (I think in the temporo-parietal region) when he was remote viewing. This also seemed to be connected to the earths geomagnetic activity, psychic abilities may be related to tuning in to this field of activity. That would be in the schumann resonance ranges, around 7,83Hz (it varies though I think from time to time). If you want to know more about this check this out: https://www.youtube....h?v=9l6VPpDublg Its a talk by neuroscientist Michael Persinger on psychic abilities, magnetic fields etc...

 

For this type of training I think a theta crossover protocol might be best, there is one included in the brain trainer package. It can help you access states between wakefulness and sleep where it is easier to access images from the unconscious. Also Persinger used a magnetic helmet that produced magnetic signals sent in to the brain that was found to increase psychic abilities (and other things). I havent tried that but you can buy helmets developed out of that research here: http://www.shaktitec...ating/index.htm

 

As for the effects of TAG Sync on psychic abilities, I think it may be enhancing it. The reason why I think it does is because I think it optimizes energetic flow throughout the body. The chakra system is a kind of energy system and I think it is also effected when other energy systems are balanced and flowing. Its a bit of speculation on my part of course and I may be wrong, but I had a series of what I can only describe as mystical experiences that made me convinced of this... several days of extremely heightened energetic flow throughout my body, I became extremely sensitized to the bodies energetic system and it was like I could sense this flow of energy through the chakras... I dont believe they are anything like depicted, more like energy flow with centers in certain places and it flows according to a kind of vortex dynamics, like water or galaxies... I experienced the energy rising to the spot of the third eye and I experienced a kind of transcending energy accompanied by an intuitive knowing of many things.. I had a few days of extreme creativity where new insights kept appearing for me. I feel like it was a very transformative experience that completely changed my self-image and my view of the world. I feel like I am completely connected with the universe, a small piece of the great web of life  . It became clear to me how life experiences itself by creating and nurturing itself by itself, through itself  ... if that makes sense to you. It kind of shattered my sense of separate-self existance, while I still experience myself as an individuated unit of consciousness I know that everything is ultimately intricately inter-connected and inter-dependent... I feel like these insights were incredibly valuable for me so I am very thankful that this occured  .

 

As for the dynamics of this, I believe that TAG Sync can help us empty our minds, which allows self-organization to occur. When the mind is empty, it is resting in the universal field that supports all life, I believe this helps our minds resonate with the universal pattern that connects all things. Tuning to the universe as a whole is growing the subtle perception of intricate inter-connection... I suppose that is a kind of "psychic" ability (from a rational only point of view). I believe our civilization is ready to outgrow its primitive containment within the confines of dogmatic belief-systems, which is why technologies of liberation like these are emerging.. helping us reach towards the stars  .

 

[DonManley]

Unfortunately, this thread escalated to occult pseudo-science    This is the reason why even simplest forms of meditation had negative connotations in the secular community. There are many wonderful states of mind that don't need any occult explanations. Many people reading about neurofeedback or even simple meditation already have their snake oil detectors tuned to the maximum, reaching into the spectrum of false detection.

 

Unless you can measure what psychic abilities are and what they are not, you're basically trying to trick yourself. Astrology is a good example. It seems that it deals with empirical facts, but those facts are too abstract to make any useful predictions. E.g., I can say that you're going to meet a friendly stranger next week. It is an empirical prediction. But it's too abstract and it can't be falsified. The same way, you can claim that N thing can optimize energy flow or chakra, but that statement is just smoke and mirrors. You won't be able to measure chakra and everything can be considered energy. There is no definitive empirical evidence that can falsify that statement.

 

I'll stop ranting and just leave it here:

 

https://youtu.be/cIXcg1rJn2U?t=6m2s

 

IMO, Sam Harris, in his book Waking Up, does a good job explaining other states of mind without stepping into the territory of occult pseudo-science. Unfortunately, he does not talk about biofeedback.

[umop 3pisdn]

Btw,I was curious,do you long time users of TAGsync protocol observed any development of psychic abilities?I know it's quite difficult to quantify something so volatile,but I guess from the moment that you optimised  your neurological circuits it's highly posible to develop such abilities!

 

Coming from a Buddhist context you'd develop stuff like that (abhinna, siddhis, whatever), from samatha practice. I think they usually say in the fourth rupa jhana is when something like that tends to happen. TAGsync can be used as samatha meditation without having to adopt any kind of special approach, but in my experience it's better for the kind of samatha that you'd use to develop vipassana. If you're at all familiar with Buddhist phenomenology I'd say that TAGsync is essentially a sati-sampajanna protocol, that is it's more about becoming reflexively self-aware of consciousness. Some people in the Thai forest tradition refer to this sort of phenomenon as the 'poo roo' (or "The One That Knows"), buddho, or the emblem of consciousness, and ime it also relates to the light nimitta (obhasanimitta). Tibetan Buddhism has a similar thing in Dzogchen or Essence Mahamudra, though the teaching framework is a bit different, but from what I understand the phenomenon is essentially the same.

 

In my experience awareness of consciousness is an excellent base for investigating awareness itself, or what the mind is like when temporarily released from craving (the twelfth step in the anapanasati sutta, in fact I think the third tetrad [mind] is a good guide for TAGsync in general), and then using that as a base to develop more insight into the fundamental nature of reality (the fourth tetrad) in the Buddhist context of the combined path of tranquility and insight. There's nothing really stopping someone from using it to just develop jhana, and while I think it would help, as the main priority I don't think it's the best or most natural application of TAGsync.

 

From what I understand, the most robust publicly available occult training system is Franz Bardon's Initiation Into Hermetics, and the basic samatha practice that they use in that case is actually extremely similar to Entropy training. Regardless of the specific design they're using in the following video, Entropy training does the same thing (reduces variance, spectral amplitude, and cultivates 'undistractability'), this video is actually what lead me to exploring Entropy in the first place since I was looking for an eeg neurofeedback protocol more oriented around samatha practice in particular.

 

 

In my experience, Entropy relates more to a tactile nimitta (rupanimitta), which is essentially the refreshment (piti) or joy (sukha) described in the second tetrad (sensation) of the anapanasati sutta. It's interesting, because investigating these subtle sensations will inform you about the activities of your mind and is an excellent base for cultivating undistractability, which is the first step of practice in something like Bardon's system.

 

Something like that isn't really an area of expertise for me, I tend to be pretty agnostic about it when I see abhinna mentioned in the Buddhist canon, it seems like something that might be interesting to explore just to see what it's about, but I think it's potentially dangerous to develop capacities like these, like as a Buddhist I tend to think liberation supersedes something like that, and in the case that these powers are real emphasizing enlightenment first would better protect your morality from the corrupting influence of power.

 

But if this is something you're really interested in, I would read Bardon's IIH and a lot of the commentaries people have produced on it to flesh it out, and look more into an Entropy protocol. I'd do both Entropy and TAGsync, especially since they're both synergistic and use the same software platform, but generally think of Entropy as oriented around cultivating a feeling of 'refreshment' that leads to tranquility and undistractability, and TAGsync as oriented around developing a bright mind that is reflexively self-aware.

 

 

Unfortunately, this thread escalated to occult pseudo-science    This is the reason why even simplest forms of meditation had negative connotations in the secular community. There are many wonderful states of mind that don't need any occult explanations. Many people reading about neurofeedback or even simple meditation already have their snake oil detectors tuned to the maximum, reaching into the spectrum of false detection.

 

Unless you can measure what psychic abilities are and what they are not, you're basically trying to trick yourself. Astrology is a good example. It seems that it deals with empirical facts, but those facts are too abstract to make any useful predictions. E.g., I can say that you're going to meet a friendly stranger next week. It is an empirical prediction. But it's too abstract and it can't be falsified. The same way, you can claim that N thing can optimize energy flow or chakra, but that statement is just smoke and mirrors. You won't be able to measure chakra and everything can be considered energy. There is no definitive empirical evidence that can falsify that statement.

 

I'll stop ranting and just leave it here:

 

https://youtu.be/cIXcg1rJn2U?t=6m2s

 

IMO, Sam Harris, in his book Waking Up, does a good job explaining other states of mind without stepping into the territory of occult pseudo-science. Unfortunately, he does not talk about biofeedback.

 

In my experience talking to people who claimed to have developed siddhis, the experience is pretty ambiguous. You have perceptions, that you can either ignore or take as queer products of the mind that are sometimes deceptively reliable. I think it's like how normal people have intuition, but once you start training your mind in a very intense way, certain phenomena that were subtle before gain a lot more volume. A lot of it is probably ordinary cognition, or unconscious processing, similar to how a clever idea can come to someone in a dream. It's just not as foggy or unreliable as a dream, since this is a product of discipline and practice, it's basically like that kind of phantasmagoria gaining a degree of solidity. And nothing about that seems special to me, as that's basically what those 'nimittas' are in the previous section of this post, that is they're essentially vague mental perceptions that gain in volume as the mind continues to settle down.

 

What I'm saying is, you could see a person seeking to develop 'psychic abilities' as someone seeking to hack their minds to produce strange perceptions that may or may not be useful or reliable. That way it's somewhat sensible what is happening and you don't have to resort to narratives about reading the akashic records or whatever new age types are into now, or that people are purely deluding themselves (both of which seem pretty extreme or unrealistic to me). There are probably facets of cognition that are pretty obscure until you really begin to train your mind and turn down all the ambient noise so they can come through clear, and personally that's basically what I think 'psychic phenomena' are. There's no need to resort to a metaphysical explanation or one at odds with what we know about the mind. If you've ever watched the face of a baby you know they have an insane capacity to scan for emotions, their microexpressions change seamlessly moment to moment in response to your own feelings shown unwittingly on your face while you're looking at them, and this ability is apparently just innate. What happened to that when we got older, did it just become obscured by conscious thinking? If we made the inside of our heads a lot more quiet, we could probably have a much better perception of what the people around us are feeling, even developing an empathetic capacity that would ordinarily seem superhuman, for example.

Edited by umop 3pisdn, 13 May 2015 - 10:39 PM.

[Alin Samson]

Look,I am very sorry DonManley,my intention wasn't to divert this thread to pseudo-science when I asked about phychic powers,but I guess in the end,it is just an  aspect  of the discussion which sooner or later had to pop up.When users of TAGsync report almost mistical experiences which I beleive to be enteirely true ,it's difficult not to ask yourself about the so called occult side of the problem.

[Crowstream]

@DonManley

 

Thanks for the input, there is a lot of value to being skeptical of course, and I do not expect everyone to agree with my views (that would be boring  ). Understanding the universe is a tricky endeavour, we are basicly born ignorant and have to learn by trial and error... so I do not claim to really know anything (I dont think anyone does). I do have a set of experiences however that need to be comprehended somehow so I am just offering my interpretation of what appears probable to me at this time... when I started out doing neurofeedback I think my view was completely different, so it has changed over time... hopefully it is growing towards a direction of a more complete understanding.

 

On the issue of pseudo-science, I think that is largely a matter of semantics, the way we interpret and make meaning out of experience. Claiming something to be pseudo-scientific is a mental label we may attach to things that we do not understand. I for one would say that the essence of true empirical understanding is experience itself, which means our interpretations must shift with the ongoing experience that is being perceived. Many of my experiences has caused me to shift my way of interpreting the world. I think it would be arrogant of any of us to assume we have developed the whole picture of "how the universe is". In that sense what the universe is, is something that is constantly being revealed to us.

I think every revolution in science, was caused by individuals who changed the way they were thinking. In this sense what appears to be pseudo-scientific to one generation, will be the science of the next. In my interpretation of the world, the "chakra system" is not an occult phenomena at all, it is a part of the manifestation of the universe, and it is directly verifiable by experience. I think it would be boring if our human perceptions remained constant, luckily I think the human nervous system has many capabilities that we do not yet fully understand. I think it is not a good idea to underestimate our abilities, consciousness is an infinitely complicated phenomena that we are only beginning to understand.

 

I think you are proving your own statement that the chakra system cannot be empirical, because there is no way of measuring it. Of course if you say it cannot be measured, it is not empirical, but only if you assume that you cannot measure it. It is impossible to make measurements if you believe it is impossible to make them. I would say it is possible, and many people have already done this... When you consider that the human body is an extremely intricate instrument, far more complicated than any instrument we can build so far, it becomes completely empirical. Of course this will not be verifiable by people who have not appropriately tuned the instrument of their nervous system to perceive such things. That is why we still disagree.. it is easier to prove some natural phenomena than others, but that doesnt mean others do not exist. I guess we will still disagree about this (which is good I think because it allows a consensual understanding to emerge), I am merely attempting to relate my experience hoping it can be of some use to others who may also be trying to make sense of this world, that means trying to extend our minds and our understanding to things that may appear difficult.

 

In any case, I hope the people reading this do not become discouraged because they disagree with me, I think we need an attitude of open exploration, so dont take anything I say seriously, explore it for yourself  .

[hza]

For my two bits, I see no reason to confine our discussion here to hard metrics and data.  Nfb training for me is an intensely internal/subjective experience--which incidentally makes it a natural companion discussion topic with meditation and states experienced while pursuing various methods.  

 

What I admire about the various Buddhist traditions is the way in which they utilize a relentless and uncompromising scientific rigor to examine and describe internal states of consciousness.  I find it an unsurprising coincidence that the most advanced users of TAGSync here all appear to share that same discipline and fascination with these states, whether or not they use the framework of Buddhism or other meditative traditions to describe these inevitably subjective experiences.  

 

To paraphrase a sentiment that Pete van Deusen of Brain-Trainer often voices in response to those who champion qEEG and other attempts to quantify nfb down to a set of empirically derived metrics, the utility of nfb ultimately comes down a simple question for the recipient:  do I feel better or not?  If you have an ideal Q and still feel like crap then there's no point in the time and money spent in nfb.  

 

Whether or not the discussion here has at times veered into questionable and unverifiable territory, imo it's all been done with sincerity, discipline, and intelligence.  That makes for a worthy conversation all in itself, and I for one am happy to sit on the sidelines and keep up with it as best as I can for as long as it continues.  

[dubee014]

Hey guys.

 

 

It's been almost two months now since I bought my q-wiz off of mindsupplies and I still haven't received it.  I emailed Douglas and he said it would be around the end of April for them to become available, but it's near the end of may and I still haven't heard anything.  Is anyone having the same problem?  I'm trying to be patient but I can't help but be concerned.

[Crowstream]

@dubee

 

People have been talking about this in the pocket neurobics yahoo group.

 

Apparently the pocket neurobics website says the Q-wiz is out of stock, Bruce (the maker of pocket neurobics). Said that there has been a sudden increase in demand for the Q-wiz so they have run out of it, and he said probably end of May... Not sure what that means for you since Douglas first has to receive it and then send it to you I guess that might take some more time.

 

I think anyone can join the yahoo group so maybe you can check out if there is any more information  .

[open-it]

@Crowstream

 

You said your friend was getting the openbci kit and that you were going to explore using the 8 channels on it about a year ago.  I was wondering if anything became of this?

 

I'm interested in getting into TAGSync through OpenBCI.

 

Thank you.

[DonManley]

@Crowstream

 

You said your friend was getting the openbci kit and that you were going to explore using the 8 channels on it about a year ago.  I was wondering if anything became of this?

 

I'm interested in getting into TAGSync through OpenBCI.

 

Thank you.

 

I'm also interested in this. I have openBCI and right now I'm learning about neurofeedback and experimenting with it. In case somebody thinks that openBCI requires some technical knowledge, it does not. The device itself is very easy to use. You basically plug in the usb dongle in a computer, turn on the device itself and it works. I use it on Linux.

 

I mostly lack the knowledge about neurofeedback and try to gain technical knowledge about neurofeedback in free time.

 

I'm going to leave a couple of links that helped me with openBCI:

• http://docs.openbci....-GettingStarted
• http://www.autodidac...-recording-ekg/
• http://www.autodidac...linux-and-wine/
•  
• http://www.openbci.c...p?p=/categories

 

 

A couple of gotchas:

Start with pulse first. Always record your data for later analysis. If you see a lot of interference, it's probably from a computer or the wiring. Try to move away from the omputer or turn the electricity in your house off. Only after you get clean signal for pulse try EEG. As described in autodidacts, setting up a bandstop filter helps to cut some of the interference, if it is present. However, one has to be aware of a location and standards. In America, utility frequency is going to be 60hz. So they set the filter to 59-61. In Europe it will be 50hz, so if somebody lives in Europe, they have to set the bandstop to 49-51.

 

For linux users, don't forget to "chown 666 /dev/ttyUSB0" (where "0" is your port number), if you're trying to expose the port to Wine. You run Wine without root privileges, so any software like BrainBay won't be able to read any data from a port, unless it has permissions to. It does not point out at where the problem is, so I can imagine it will be painful to guess why there is no data coming from the port or why the port is not available.

Edited by DonManley, 21 May 2015 - 10:08 AM.

[Crowstream]

@open-it

 

My friend has still not received his OpenBCI so I havent tried it. There seems to be a general pattern with startups like these that they are a bit slow in delivering at first...I guess he will receive it eventually though but it has been a long wait hehe  .

[VastEmptiness]

Hey guys.

 

 

It's been almost two months now since I bought my q-wiz off of mindsupplies and I still haven't received it.  I emailed Douglas and he said it would be around the end of April for them to become available, but it's near the end of may and I still haven't heard anything.  Is anyone having the same problem?  I'm trying to be patient but I can't help but be concerned.

 

did you inquire? you might want to find out if brain-trainer has some in stock (which i would guess so) and cancel the original order.
https://brain-traine...cket-neurobics/

[DonManley]

@open-it

 

My friend has still not received his OpenBCI so I havent tried it. There seems to be a general pattern with startups like these that they are a bit slow in delivering at first...I guess he will receive it eventually though but it has been a long wait hehe  .

 

I have a feeling that it's better to buy it from ebay. Many people have their plans changed while they wait for a device, so they then try to sell it without even using it much. I got mine from ebay, I was delivered within a week or two and it was unopened. It was also cheaper than if I were to order it on the official site (there was no competition and my bid was the lowest).

[gedanken]

I'm interested in how this can work with Dario Nardi's work relating EEG to MBTI types. I think the research was conducted in UCLA and seems kind of intriguing.

 

I know MBTI typing is the most scientific process, but subjectively I"ll have to admit groups of people have the same tendencies.

 

Don't know the validity, but here's someone's explanation of his tests:

 

 

He found that the cognitive functions talked about in MBTI circles are present in the brain as distinct patterns of activity, giving people a natural inclination towards certain skills and behaviors. In the presentation he gives to Google (on youtube, over an hour long, very good) he mentions that the brain activities of 2 random people are roughly 5% similar but 2 people of the same myers briggs type have roughly 80% similarity.

Your functions are almost like incredible brain superpowers, appearing as amazing different patterns on the EEG display. As well as function states the brains of the 16 types use different sets of preferred individual regions.
Here's some of what he had to say about the 16 different types, their functions and some of their favorite regions.

 

Then goes in to state how certain actions cause different types to go into flow state. Some types achieve it by a single question, others in a crisis, others by simply listening, etc.

 

Maybe there's a way to tap into training different ways of sensing/viewing the world with TAGsync in this regard as well?

Edited by gedanken, 21 May 2015 - 06:22 PM.

[Bobity]

@dubee

 

I'm in exactly in the same position as you.  I ordered TAGsync from Douglas Dailey in the beginning of Apil. It sounds like Bruce at Pocket neurobiotics is working on some enhancement to Q-wiz,  which like many techie changes has taken longer than expected hence the delays.

 

I got the following from Karen @ Braintrainer :

 

"I saw that you are waiting for  Q-wiz.  If you don’t already have your money promised anywhere else we do have them in stock at brain-trainer.

Hope this helps some."

 

Best of luck

 

 

[OpaqueMind]

@Gedanken, regarding the topic of MBTI, I have some observations from my own experience with TAGsync. I classify as INTP, and as all types it has its own tendencies towards certain abilties being hyperdeveloped and others being underdeveloped. One of the things that INTPs are known for is being infatuated with logic and ideas, often to the point of neglecting the immediate physical reality before them. It is my observation that in times of mental health deterioration the contours of my personality have been exacerbated to the point of significant dysfunction, particularly in terms of social interaction. It is a stereotype, but also I think partially true, that certain kinds of thinking and socialising effectively are positioned in an antagonistic relationship to one another. You could conceive the relation as something like linear/non-linear, logical/intuitive, textual/contextual, and often this dynamic is significantly leaned in one direction or another for certain personality types, and they can find it difficult if not impossible to engage the inverse aspect of the dynamic. Each extreme is pathological and leads to a detriment in the efficiency of mental and worldly functioning.

 

Over time I have noticed a gradual reformation of my personality away from the extreme rigidity of endless logical rumination, and towards a more flexible mind that can engage the appropriate mindset at the appropriate time rather than overfitting my old default mode to every situation, that would often cause misunderstanding and disconnection. However this does not mean my personality has flattened out; I still have my preferences and I still greatly enjoy thinking. But I am much more adaptable to circumstance now, and have more cognitive states at my disposal for engaging effectively with the various demands of everyday situations. The pathological stickiness of certain modes of being is essentially gone, and I come now to rest in a finely tuned balance which makes me an all round more effective (and happier) person. There is an interesting mirroring here with the dynamics of self-organised criticality actually; criticality being an optimal point poised between many potential evolutionary paths of system possibilities, the point at which global phase-transitions most readily can occur and at which the phase-space of the potentiality of a system is maximised. This is reflected in the readiness of the mind to adapt to whatever is arising and an enhanced flexibility of the personality.