Brain Music Treatment--The Mood Organ is Here!!!

In his novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick invented a device that citizens hook into to administer moods for the day. Last autumn at the College Music Journal (CMJ) Music Marathon and conference in New York City (2006), a company called Brain Music Therapy was displaying their service in a booth, the production of a "brain music" audio track for people to use to treat commonplace diseases, including such blockbuster ailments as depression, insomnia, attention deficit disorder, anxiety, migranes and tension headaches. It sounds like new age piano music, but the idea is that it is recorded based on rhythms and data from your personal EEG, an electroencephalogram which measures electrical nerve activity from the skin of your scalp and ears.

Here's the link.

First observation: the girl in the "before brain music" photo is way hotter than the organized and efficient "after brain music" woman. Sure, before listening to brain music the woman couldn't even get her jacket on and off, but man, that brain music makes her look rather Stepfordian afterwards. Or perhaps it's just the lighting.

Second observation: language is deployed throughout this site in a way that promotes thinking about the body as a collection of replaceable parts, a system to be tuned. The body and mind can be kept in optimal functionality, all very jargon-laden and scientific sounding. But this is no mere gimmick, this is crucial to the reorganization of the human body as a site for commerce and exchange. Read through the website for awhile and the language of optimized performance starts to sound like you're buying a Lexus.

Third observation: if the therapy actually works, it is regulating performance through adminstration of a feedback loop. This is basic cybernetics, Norman Weiner's theory about the human-machine interface. Data is collected from the EEG rhythms and intensities, manipulated into audio information--brain music--and played back based on a deliberate and systematic schedule. The company even advises revising as necessary (recording a new audio loop, $$) once the new patterns have taken effect. It could be a scam or it could be a brilliant new discovery--related companies are selling equipment, and training in neurofeedback therapy, and such therapies are being administered by licensed psychiatrists and psychologists. Clearly, the American Medical Association is going to resist any alternative medicine--there's too much money in treating the big pharm diseases that brain music claims to heal. But even if this therapy helps me sleep better at night, I am uneasy about spending more time being disciplined by information, or any media at all.

Still curious? Check out www.cnih.net, the website for The Center for Neurofeedback and Integrative Health, Inc. The new technology, and systems analysis approach to emotional and mental health are explained in detail here. The average treatment period is about six months, with twice weekly sessions.

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