Holosync

As mentioned on a separate thread, a friend of mine asked me to investigate the Holosync company after he purchased a cd pack costing over £100.

Let me be clear that Holosync is not the only company selling these cd's to the public and certainly wasn't the 1st.

Anyway here is the link to Holosync and the claim that listening to these CD's can effect all sorts of cures for the body.

http://www.centerpointe.com/

As you can see if you read through all the bumf it makes many bold claims, not least the 'scientifically proven' claim, although I failed to find the references to the peer reviewed journals that would count towards empirical evidence of this quote.

Anyway it works on what is known as 'Binaural Beats' which HYPOTHETICALLY influences certain functions of the brain besides those of hearing.

In this instance it would take you in to a relaxed meditative state, if you listen to it with headphones.

This is meant to cause 'Brainwave synchronization', however there is not a wide acceptance by the medical community to adopt the practice of brainwave synchronization for emotional/mental disorders. The fixed, constant frequency of the synchronization is less helpful than techniques such as classical neurofeedback or learning meditation, also which naturally generate brain wave frequencies that differ from person to person and may vary from minute to minute.

Unfortunately this is something that has real scientific roots, but the key word at the moment is 'HYPOTHETICAL' not 'THEORETICAL' and certainly not 'EMPIRICAL' based.

It is a victim of the self help industry seeing something in Science and then rolling out the marketing bandwagon to make quick cash out of an unproven Hypothesis.

They state it is proven scientifically, which to me is borderline BS because they know science has backed it to a degree, but certainly not to the extent that its a cure all component for every mental ailment they care to say it cures.

This is not to say it doesn't work, just that it hasn't been scientifically been proven to do what these self-help companies say it does.

It may even work on the 'placebo effect'.

Certainly all the information they bombard you with is enough to befuddle even rational intelligent free thinkers if they're guard is down.

However I feel for the cost it is a rather expensive sugar coated pill, especially as there are 12 levels to purchase and joy behold level 2 includes 'affirmations', they have absolutely scientifically been proven to work 100% reproducible effects!

In conclusion - I personally wouldnt waste my money on something at best borders on pure pseudoscience, its run by'life coaches'! NOT scientists.

Regards,

Den.

or to put it more succinctly:

"Brain Wave Synchronizers"
Several companies have marketed gadgets that deliver flashing lights and sounds through modified eyeglasses and headphones. The devices are hazardous because flashing lights can trigger epileptic seizures in susceptible individuals, including some with no prior history of seizures. In 1992 the FDA received a complaint that a device of this type (the "Relaxman Synchroenergizer") had caused a 21-year-old woman to have her first seizure. The device had been marketed with unsubstantiated claims that it could improve digestion and sexual function and control pain, habits, and addictions. In 1993 the FDA initiated a seizure of the manufacturer's entire supply, which a judge subsequently ordered destroyed [6]. The FDA also stopped the marketing of "InnerQuest Brain Wave Synchronizer," which had been claimed to provide diet control, stress relief, pain relief, and increased mental capacity [7]. The FTC and four state attorneys general recently settled complaints against Zygon International, Inc., which had claimed that users of "The Learning Machine" would learn foreign languages overnight, quadruple their reading speed, expand their psychic powers, build self-esteem, and replace bad habits with good ones [8]. There is no scientific evidence that any device can help people by synchronizing the two sides of the brain or increasing the frequency of alpha waves (a type of brain wave) [9].
Quoted from Quackwatch.com with thanks!