Right Brain Stimulation Reduces Stress, Enhances Creativity

Keywords: Dance Therapy, Music Therapy, Pain Management, Stress Reduction, Creativity Enhancement, Education, Language, Conceptual Skills

Researchers analyzed scores from the International Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test, which is given in 65 countries.

In 2009, about 32 percent of American students scored what the researchers termed “proficient” on the PISA, which placed it 32 out of 65 countries. Fifty percent or more of students in Korea, Finland, Switzerland, Japan, Canada and the Netherlands scored proficient.

The 2009 PISA scores, released last December, delivered the depressing news that even though American students live in the richest country in the world, they trail, on average, significantly behind their neighbors in math skills. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called the scores a “wake up call for America” and a reason to continue the Obama administration reforms linking teacher evaluations to students’ test scores.

Math is considered a “logical” skill, and thus usually associated with the left brain hemisphere functions.  In my opinion, we have become a “left brain” society, reinforcing the development of linear/logic skills in our schools and workplace (consider that the first thing to go in any public school faced with a budget crunch are “right brain” topics, like art and music).   So why the low math scores?   Are we developing new generations of Americans that are deficient in conceptual and cognitive skills?  What does this mean for America’s future as an “innovator”?

Consider a study called Hemispheric and Autonomic Laterality: Effects of Unilateral Repetitive Activation.  The study was conducted at the Nova University Biofeedback Laboratories, under the guidance of noted neuro-feedback pioneer Dr. Joe Kamiya.   The study involved 47 volunteer subjects, split between the group watching the Kintron, (see picture and description below) and a experimental control group.  The experimental group also listened to soothing music (mostly light classical), and the control group listened to spoken text.  Several biofeedback measures were recorded one each subject during the sessions:

1. Bilateral skin conductance level (SCL), and

2.   Heart rate (HR)

Each subject came to the laboratory three times a week for two weeks for a total of six sessions. SCL and HR were monitored for the entire 45 minutes of each session with time samples recorded every minute for each variable. The first 15 minutes of each session was a stabilization period. During sessions two, four, and six, three disruptions were randomly presented to elicit a startle response, allowing at least five minutes for recovery from each of nine disruptions. Visual startle consisted of turning on an overhead light; auditory startle was elicited by hitting a metal file cabinet with a hammer; and touch startle consisted of two taps on the right forearm by the experimenter. Time for recovery to baseline was noted  in seconds.

The Kintron stands about 4 ft. high, by 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The rotating cylinder was controlled using a variable speed electric motor and voltage attenuator, capable of varying the rotation speed from 0 to up to 12 rotations per minute. The viewer sees a slow moving arc that rises and falls with the user-specified rotation speed.  The slower the movement while still maintaining the viewer’s concentration, the more powerful the effect.  The speed is set to correlate with the music being played in the background.

The resulting statistical evidence was conclusive:  the subjects watching the Kintron recovered from startle significantly faster than those in the control group.   In other words, after exposure to the Kintron, the subjects in the Kintron group were able to “relax” significantly more quickly than the other group.

It is hypothesized that utilizing KMT (Kinetic Motion Therapy), the right hemisphere is activated and thus strengthened (much like exercising a group of muscles at the gym), and the “jobs” that are typically handled by the right hemisphere of our brain are thus made easier.  Some of the “jobs” allocated to the right side of the brain include reasoning language functions, the transduction of visual and musical stimuli (such as spatial manipulation).  Other studies suggest that facial perception and artistic ability are also functions of the right hemisphere.  It is considered the “creative” side of the brain.

Utilizing this and similar right brain exercise techniques might help develop cognitive thinking ability which would thus increase a student’s ability to digest topic matter, such as math, in a more conceptual manner.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
James Wilson is a freelance composer and author.  He is a member of Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), and publishes his works through FreePLay Music Inc.  His works often appear on various cable networks, and broadcast internationally.

Further information can be obtained by emailing the author at: jrw@extremeco.net

The full study, Hemispheric and Autonomic Laterality: Effects of Unilateral Repetitive Activation, can be downloaded at:

http://soundtracks.9xnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/unilateral-repetitive-activation-

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