Disrupted Brain Waves Hurt Your Mental Health, But There’s a Fix

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Behavioral and mood issues often stem from important yet often overlooked factors in the brain: brain wave imbalances.

“If you’d fix a busted knee, why not a dysregulated brain or disrupted brain wave frequency?”

Dr. Kevin Murphy, a radiation oncologist and creator of personalized repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (PrTMS), a therapeutic neuromodulation technique, posed this question to challenge our biases around mental health treatment at Beyond the Prescription Pad, a conference spotlighting mental health.

As a specialist in central nervous system tumors, Murphy advocates seeing behavioral issues as symptoms of underlying anatomical imbalances rather than personal failings. He suggests destigmatizing brain wave treatment, understanding certain behaviors as reflections of physiological imbalances, and viewing the brain like any other organ in need of attention.

Brain wave patterns—whether too fast, too slow, or out of sync—can influence everything from our mood to our ability to focus. Neuromodulation is a technique that employs electrical or chemical stimulation to adjust the functions of the nervous system. Neuromodulation technologies and simple at-home methods alike offer new solutions for mental health challenges while changing our understanding of how the brain functions and heals.

Irregular or Disruptive Patterns

Neuromodulation methods like PrTMS are used to treat a variety of conditions, including anxiety, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease. These issues are often linked to imbalances in brain wave frequencies. For example, fast brain waves can contribute to anxiety, while slower waves are often tied to depression or memory problems.

An ideal frequency, often associated with a state of calm, is around 10.7 hertz, known as the “earth wave: a clean, noise-free signal,” Murphy said.

When the brain is firing too quickly, it may oversample the environment, creating a state of heightened anxiety, Murphy further explained.

An over-aroused nervous system with an excess of fast frequencies (such as beta waves) often indicates an individual is stuck in a sympathetic or “fight-or-flight” state, Karlien Balt, neuroscientist and owner of KB Neurofeedback, told The Epoch Times.

Psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are also common symptoms of an overactive brain, Balt added.

Conversely, when the brain fires too slowly, it essentially goes into sleep mode, with neurons producing symptoms often linked to depression and diminished joy, Murphy explained.

“In conditions like Alzheimer’s, there is a general slowing of brain activity, particularly in memory-related regions such as the hippocampus,” Balt added.

Stimulants can temporarily elevate slow brain waves, but they also speed up fast waves, which can lead to side effects like insomnia. Eventually, someone may need sedatives to calm these hyperactive frequencies to sleep, a pattern Murphy describes as “the yo-yo system of medication management.”

Brain wave frequency also declines naturally with age, dropping by about 0.4 hertz every decade after age 40, said Murphy.

“For example, a person with a frequency of 10.6 hertz at age 50 may decline to around 10.2 hertz by age 60, which can correlate with reduced cognitive performance and memory.”

Brain wave activity can be measured using quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG). This brain scan measures electrical activity in the brain and compares an individual’s brain waves to a “normal” reference point.

For example, if the brain’s alpha waves (brain waves associated with a relaxed, calm, but awake state) are uneven in the frontal lobes, it could be a sign of depression.

Brain Wave Treatment

The idea of “fixing” disrupted brain waves is a relatively new concept in medicine, but it’s gaining traction.

One approach is repetitive (daily) transcranial (through the skull) magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a noninvasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate areas of the brain. By targeting the brain’s electrical activity, rTMS can help reset disrupted brain waves.

PrTMS takes this treatment a step further. Instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach, PrTMS tailors brain stimulation to each patient’s specific needs. This technique allows doctors to fine-tune the brain’s frequency patterns.

“I treat my patients with chemo brain, COVID brain, and even my autistic patients the same way—by tuning their brains,“ Murphy told The Epoch Times. ”We’re treating the organ system (the brain) directly, which no one else is doing.”

rTMS can be used for daily brain stimulation and involves delivering microcurrents or gentle electrical stimulation to the brain over a daily 30-minute outpatient session, he explained.

As the brain receives stimulation, a natural phenomenon known as “entrainment” (when the brain’s electrical activity syncs up with an external rhythm, like a sound or magnetic pulse) occurs. Neurons begin to fire, vibrate, or resonate at the same frequency as the external stimulus. This entrainment helps neurons align with frequencies associated with meditative states and calm focus. Many patients describe this state as “being in the zone” or a flow state, Murphy said.

“With PrTMS technology, physicians can estimate each patient’s optimal flow state frequency and then amplify that signal, a process often referred to as ’meditation on steroids,’” he said, referring to the increased intensity.

rTMS, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is currently used to treat several medical conditions, including major depressive disorder, OCD, and migraines, Murphy added.

At-Home Tools

PrTMS is a clinical treatment typically performed in a medical setting under the supervision of trained professionals. It’s not a device that people can purchase for personal use at home. The best way to replicate the benefits of PrTMS at home, however, is through a daily mindfulness or meditation practice, according to Murphy.

Balt also recommends heart rate variability (HRV) training as a practical tool for clients to use at home. HRV can help regulate brain waves by improving the balance of the autonomic nervous system, which controls both heart rate and brain activity. When HRV is high, it indicates the body is in a relaxed, balanced state, which can encourage brain waves to align with this calm state (like alpha waves).

“There are various apps available that could be of use—and you don’t need anything more than your lungs,” she said, adding that specific breathing techniques can also help regulate the nervous system and promote relaxation.

Another helpful tool Balt suggests for home use is binaural beats, which are particularly beneficial for clients with high anxiety. “Listening to alpha frequencies can calm the brain,” she said. Binaural beat stimulation has been studied for its effect on mood, cognitive processing, creativity, pain perception, and relaxation.

Balt added that several home-training devices are also available for neurofeedback and biofeedback.

“The reality is that we can all benefit from some form of brain training,” she said. “Our fast-paced lives have led many to live with a dysregulated nervous system, which can contribute to diseases like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. You don’t need a diagnosis to benefit from this; anyone can improve their well-being with these practices.”