JPH02302269A - Brain wave induction device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To induce a brain wave with a stimulation signal phase-locked with the brain wave of a user him-her-self by converting the detected physiological change signal of a body into a signal with constant signal level phase-locking with the signal, and giving stimulation by using a prescribed frequency component in the signal. CONSTITUTION:When a headband is attached on a head part and a switch is turned on, electrodes 1a and 1b send the brain wave to a biological amplifier 3, and a noise component other than an alpha wave is eliminated from a brain wave signal at a first band-pass filter 4, and the signal is sent to a phase-locking signal generation circuit 5. An alpha wave signal is inputted to a phase comparater 12, and is phase-compared with the frequency division signal of a frequency divider 13, then, a voltage proportional to a phase difference is outputted. A voltage controlled oscillator 15 oscillates a square wave comprised of a frequency of N times that of the alpha wave signal. A square wave signal outputted from the frequency divider 13 is outputted after its phase is delayed by 90 deg. with a phase corrector 11. A second band-pass filter 6 passes only the frequency components of 8-13Hz corresponding to the alpha wave from the square wave signal, and sends it to an optical stimulator 7. The optical stimulator 7 gives optical stimulation on the user by flash light phase-locked with the alpha wave, thereby, the alpha wave can be induced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a brain wave guiding device for efficiently guiding target brain waves.

[Conventional technology]

It is known that there is a close relationship between human brain waves and their physiological and psychological states. For example, when you are in a relaxed state, alpha waves (approximately 8 to 13 Hz) are generated a lot,
When you are active, a lot of beta waves (approximately 14 to 30 flz) are generated, and when you feel sleepy, theta waves (approximately 4 to 71 flz) are generated.
1z) occurs frequently. Conversely, if a person is induced to generate a large number of predetermined brain waves, the corresponding physiological and psychological state is likely to occur.

Conventionally, using the interaction between brain waves and their physiological and psychological states, alpha waves are induced by applying stimulation to the body from the outside, leading the body and mind to a state of relaxation, and reducing stress. A variety of devices have been proposed to reduce stress and unify the mind.

For example, the biofeedback device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 55-636'56 picks up brain waves with electrodes attached to the head, extracts alpha waves from the brain wave signals, and
The sound emitted from the earphones is changed according to the intensity of alpha waves, and the difference in sound informs whether or not alpha waves are being emitted, thereby guiding the user into a relaxed state.

Furthermore, the relaxation device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 62-87165 uses random noise generated by a random noise generation circuit to artificially create an α-wave signal having fluctuations in the 1/f characteristic. By flashing the light source to provide optical stimulation, the user is guided into a relaxed state.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the case of the biofeedback device,
In order to achieve a relaxed state, the user must listen to the differences in the sounds generated by the earphones and guide his/her own mental state so that the sound corresponding to alpha waves is the strongest. We have to go. Therefore, when using it, students should repeatedly practice in advance how to concentrate their mind to produce strong alpha waves, and learn how to change their mental state to a certain extent with their own will. It is necessary to keep it. Therefore, there is a problem in that not everyone can immediately obtain the desired effect, and the effect varies greatly depending on the individual user.

In addition, in the case of the relaxation device mentioned above, brain waves are guided using artificial alpha wave signals that are completely unrelated to the user's brain waves, so the induction effect is inconsistent and varies greatly from person to person. There was a problem.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to stimulate the target brain waves without the need for any preliminary learning by stimulating the target brain waves using a body stimulation signal that is phase-synchronized with the target brain waves. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an electroencephalogram guidance device that can induce powerful and rapid brain waves.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the brain wave guidance device of the present invention includes means for detecting physiological changes in the body, phase synchronized signal generating means for generating a signal with a constant signal level that is phase synchronized with the detected signal, and A bandpass filter that passes only the frequency band component corresponding to the brain waves induced from the signal output by the synchronization signal generating means, and a body stimulation means that converts the output signal of the bandpass filter into a predetermined body stimulation signal and provides it to the user. It is characterized by having the following.

Although brain waves are generally the most suitable physiological changes in the body to be detected, other physiological changes having properties equivalent to brain waves, such as brain magnetic fields, skin potential, skin vibrations, etc. Skin resistance etc. can be used. Also,
As the body stimulation signal, various stimulation signals such as optical stimulation, sound stimulation, electrical stimulation, vibration stimulation, etc. can be used.

[For production]

Human brain waves exhibit a so-called entrainment phenomenon in which they tune in to external stimulus signals. The induction effect of this entrainment phenomenon becomes greater when the phases of the induced brain waves and the stimulation signal applied from the outside are synchronized. The present invention utilizes such characteristics of living organisms.

The means for detecting physiological changes in the body is a means for detecting physiological changes in the user's body, such as the head in the case of electroencephalograms and brain magnetic fields, and the arm in the case of skin potential, skin vibration, skin resistance, etc. mounted in position.

Similarly, the body stimulation means is placed at a predetermined position, for example, in front of the user's eyes in the case of optical stimulation, near the ear in the case of sound stimulation,
In the case of electrical stimulation or vibration stimulation, it is attached to a predetermined position on the body such as the arm.

When a predetermined physiological change is detected in the user's body by the physiological change detection means, this detection signal is sent to the phase synchronization signal generation means, and the phase synchronization signal generation means performs phase synchronization with the detection signal. is converted into a signal with a constant signal level.

The bandpass filter selectively passes only a predetermined frequency band component corresponding to a brain wave to be induced from among the signals sent from the phase synchronization signal generating means, and sends it to the body stimulation means. The body stimulation means converts the output signal sent from the bandpass filter into a predetermined body stimulation signal and feeds it back to the user.

The user who receives the body stimulation signal is guided to a desired brain wave, and the guided brain wave is detected again by means for detecting physiological changes, and the same operation is repeated thereafter.

Therefore, when the device of the present invention starts guiding brain waves, a kind of oscillation circuit is formed that includes the user himself in a closed loop. Only signals that are phase-locked to the brain waves intended for guidance circulate within this closed loop. As a result, only the target brain waves are strongly induced by the strong attraction effect of this phase-synchronized circulating signal, and the user is quickly drawn into the desired brain wave state.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the electroencephalogram guiding device of the present invention.

This example is an example in which brain waves are used as physiological changes detected from the body and optical stimulation is used as a body stimulation signal.In the figure, la and lb pink up the brain waves from the user's head. 3 is a biological amplifier that amplifies the brain wave signals picked up by electrodes 1a and lb to a signal level suitable for subsequent processing; 4 is a biological amplifier that removes noise components in the brain wave signals sent from the biological amplifier 3; 5 is a phase-synchronized signal generation circuit that generates a rectangular wave signal with a constant signal level that is phase-synchronized with the electroencephalogram signal sent from the first band-pass filter 4; 6 is a phase-synchronized signal generation circuit; A second bandpass filter selectively passes only a predetermined frequency band component corresponding to the brain waves to be induced from among the rectangular wave signals output from the circuit 5, and 7 converts the output signal of the second bandpass filter 6 into a photostimulation signal. 8 is a phase lock detection circuit that monitors the phase lock state of the phase synchronization signal generation circuit 5 to detect brain wave fluctuations; A speaker that notifies the user through sound signals.

This is an audio alarm such as an earphone or electronic buzzer.

The first and second bandpass filters 4, 6 have electrodes 1a
, lb is a filter that selectively passes frequency band components corresponding to the brain waves to be guided from among the brain wave signals picked up by the 8 lb.
~13 Hz, 4-7 Hz, β to induce theta wave
When guiding waves, the passband characteristics are set to 14 to 30 Hz. Note that since the first bandpass filter 4 has the main purpose of removing noise, its passband characteristic can be set more gently than that of the second bandpass filter 6, and it may be omitted in some cases. good.

The phase-synchronized signal generation circuit 5 includes a PLL circuit 1O that oscillates a square wave of the same frequency that follows an input signal, and a 9-channel circuit 9 that corrects the phase of the square wave signal output from the PLL circuit 1O.
0° phase corrector 11.

The optical stimulation device 7 is a circuit that generates stimulation light that blinks in synchronization with the amplitude change of the output signal of the second bandpass filter 6, and is composed of a light emitting element such as an LED and a drive circuit thereof. There is.

The optical stimulation device 7 and the electrodes 1a, lb are incorporated into, for example, a headband, and when the headband is worn on the head, the electrodes 1a, 1b come into contact with predetermined positions on the head 2, and the optical stimulation The light emitting element of the device 7 is designed to be at a predetermined position in front of the eyes.

Next, the operation will be explained using the case of inducing alpha waves as an example.

When the user puts the headband on his head and turns on the device, the electrodes 1a and lb pick up brain waves and send them to the biological amplifier 3. After this brain wave signal is amplified by the biological amplifier 3, noise components other than α waves are removed by the first bandpass filter 4, and then sent to the phase synchronization signal generation circuit 5.

The α-wave signal sent from the first bandpass filter 4 is PL
The signal is input to the phase comparator (PC) 12 of the L circuit 10, and its phase is compared with the frequency-divided signal of the frequency divider (l/N) 13, and a voltage proportional to the phase difference is output. The output voltage proportional to this phase difference is converted into a direct current by a low pass filter (LPF) 14 and applied to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 15.

The voltage controlled oscillator 15 oscillates a square wave having a frequency N times the frequency of the alpha wave signal input to the phase comparator 12 in accordance with the applied voltage. Therefore, the output signal of the frequency divider 13, which divides the square wave signal output from the voltage controlled oscillator 15 by lZN, becomes a square wave signal having the same frequency as the α wave.

The phase of the square wave signal output from the frequency divider 13 is P
Due to the operating characteristics of the LL circuit, the input signal of the phase comparator 12, that is, the alpha wave signal, has a phase lead of 90 degrees. Therefore, this square wave signal is passed through a phase corrector, and its phase is delayed by 90° and output. As a result, 90”
The square wave signal output from the phase corrector 11 becomes a square wave signal whose signal level is constant and whose phase is synchronized with the α wave signal.

The second bandpass filter 6 selectively passes only the frequency component of 8 to 1311z corresponding to the alpha wave to be guided from the square wave signal sent from the 90'' phase corrector 11, and The signal is sent to the stimulator 7.

The optical stimulation device 7 controls the blinking of a light emitting element such as an LED using the output signal sent from the second bandpass filter 6, and optically stimulates the user with blinking light that is phase synchronized with the alpha wave. Induce alpha waves. Then, the α waves induced by this optical stimulation are picked up by the electrodes 1a and lb, and the same operation as above is repeated.

Therefore, when the device of the present invention starts guiding brain waves, a kind of oscillation circuit is formed that includes the user himself in a closed loop. Therefore, only the alpha wave signal component circulates within the loop, and this circulating signal becomes a signal that is phase-synchronized with the user's own alpha waves picked up by the electric excavators 1a and lb. As a result, the blinking phase of the stimulation light that is fed back from the optical stimulator to the user is also synchronized with the user's own alpha waves, and its strong attraction effect strongly and quickly induces the desired alpha waves. .

On the other hand, the phase lock detection circuit 8 monitors fluctuations in the DC output voltage of the low-pass filter 14 in the PLL circuit IO, and detects the fluctuations in the output voltage from the electrode 1a.

The fluctuations in the frequency components of the brain waves picked up by lb are detected. Then, the user is notified of the state of the brain wave fluctuations by an audio alarm 9 such as an electronic buzzer. Therefore, the user can conduct brain wave guidance while checking the brain wave guidance status with his/her ears.

FIG. 2 shows an actually measured waveform of alpha wave induction in the above embodiment. The waveforms (a) to (C) correspond to the waveforms at positions (a) to (C) in FIG. This figure 2 (a) to (C)
As is clear from the respective waveforms, the brain waves (α waves) picked up by the electrodes 1a and lb, the square wave signal output from the phase synchronization signal generation circuit 5, and the output signal from the second bandpass filter 6 are combined. It can be seen that their phases match. Therefore, it is understood that the effect of attracting brain waves is also strong.

The embodiment described above is an example in which alpha waves are guided, but by changing the passband frequencies of the bandpass filters 4 and 6, it is possible to similarly guide theta waves and beta waves. Further, although brain waves are used as signals for physiological changes in the body, brain magnetic fields, skin potential, skin vibration, skin resistance, etc., which have properties equivalent to brain waves, can also be used. Furthermore, although optical stimulation was used as the body stimulation signal, sound stimulation, electrical stimulation, vibration stimulation, etc. can also be used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a detected physiological change signal of the body is converted into a signal with a constant signal level that is phase-synchronized with the detected physiological change signal, and a predetermined frequency component in this signal is used to convert the detected physiological change signal of the body into a signal with a constant signal level. Since it is configured to stimulate, brain waves can be induced by stimulation signals that are phase-synchronized with the user's own brain waves, without the need for conventional learning.
Targeted brain waves can be induced powerfully and quickly.

In addition, since the detected physiological change signal of the body is converted into a -H signal and a constant square wave signal, stable brain wave guidance can be performed even if the intensity of the picked up brain waves fluctuates. .

Furthermore, since the intensity of the induced brain waves is large, the aftereffect is also large, and even after the device of the present invention is removed,
It has various excellent effects, such as the continued generation of guided brain waves over a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of actually measured waveforms of alpha wave induction in the above embodiment. la, lb...electrode, 2...head, 5...phase synchronization signal generation circuit, 6...second bandpass filter, 7...
・Photostimulation device. (O Patent applicant Bio-A Co., Ltd. (b Figure 2)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Means for detecting physiological changes in the body; Phase-synchronized signal generating means for generating a signal with a constant signal level that is phase-synchronized with the detection signal; and a signal outputted from the phase-synchronized signal generating means. The present invention is characterized by comprising a bandpass filter that passes only frequency band components corresponding to brain waves induced from the brain, and body stimulation means that converts the output signal of the bandpass filter into a predetermined body stimulation signal and provides it to the user. Brain wave induction device.