Suddenly and inexplicably, in the mid-‘90s, binaural beats came to be linked with consciousness studies. It is in some way fitting that a therapy which heals through alterations in consciousness should suddenly be touted as the premier vehicle for consciousness alteration and expansion, innocent enough words, except from those who lived through the ‘60s and ‘70s when Timothy Leary, also a doctor, a noted psychiatrist, was at the forefront of this movement and the vehicle was little pills or drops of mysterious liquid on blotters. Needless to say, this change presented a quandary for medical professionals and researchers alike. Many of those practicing at the time had been on college campuses during that last great movement. If they remembered LSD and its potential for consciousness expansion, it was now safely tucked away in their attics, with their old Jefferson Airplane albums, and had nothing to do with medical licensing or professional guidelines for treatment. Some discontinued binaural beats therapy, while others renamed it. As a therapy, it ceased to attract practitioners entering the field because it was no longer a part of any conventional college curriculum.
What had been considered promising, evidence based, measurable treatment for conditions such as chronic pain, insomnia and addictions was turned over to the world of self-help, and pop psychology. It was now seriously discussed in newly hatched publications, from places such as Maharishi Yoga University (which in the ‘90s received NCA accreditation), New Science Institute and the Monroe Clinic, in terms of new levels of consciousness, mind expansion, out of body experience, and astral projection.
Under Joe Kamiya (1969) at the University of Chicago, training in alpha wave control was showing promise as individuals were being taught to aware of their own alpha rhythms and extend alpha states. Not surprisingly, subjects found this experience “very relaxing and comforting” (EEG spectrum, 2007). Being that it was the ‘60s, other subjects found that the experience “opened the door to spiritual transformation” (EEG spectrum, 2007). What had heretofore been a hard science was breaking down with an infusion of unruly, undisciplined students and subjective phenomena. Enthusiastic public lecturers made exaggerated and unsubstantiated claims for biofeedback some of which, inevitably, was fraudulent.
As a reaction, prominent scientists undertook studies to disapprove by feedback. Hardt (1994) writes: “Many of these eminent scientists were unfamiliar with the vast classical literature of scientific research on brain waves and psychophysics, especially the work done on the psychophysics of Alpha waves. As a result their studies did not employ anything approaching optimal designs or ergonomic feedback technology.” Today biofeedback is making a comeback, but for many years it could not be practiced at any reputable medical facility. It still is approved for only a very narrow range of treatments (EEG Spectrum, 2007).
It cannot be denied that alternative health programs are gaining respectability in mainstream culture. Nutrition, biofeedback, chiropractics, and even music therapy are becoming accepted as life-sustaining treatments for certain conditions for which traditional medicine has had insufficient answers. New graduates of these programs, however, might never have heard of binaural beats—unless they are habitués of YouTube.
