Tuning into brainwave rhythms can boost learning – study

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Our hypothesis is that by matching information delivery to the optimal phase of a brainwave, we maximise information capture because this is when our neurons are at the height of excitability Professor Victoria Leong Participants got a 1.5-second dose of personalised pulse to set their brain working at its natural rhythm – a technique called “entrainment”. “The intervention itself is very simple, just a brief flicker on a screen, but when we hit the right frequency plus the right phase alignment, it seems to have a strong and lasting effect.” Professor Zoe Kourtzi of Cambridge’s Department of Psychology, who is senior author of the study, said: “Each brain has its own natural rhythm, generated by the oscillation of neurons working together. “By harnessing brainwave rhythms, it may be possible to enhance flexible learning across the lifespan, from infancy to older adulthood.” Co-author Professor Victoria Leong, from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Cambridge’s Department of Paediatrics, said: “We feel as if we constantly attend to the world, but in fact our brains take rapid snapshots and then our neurons communicate with each other to string the information together. “This study suggests that child-directed speech may be a spontaneous way of rate-matching and entraining the slower brainwaves of children to support learning.” Prof Kourtzi suggested that brainwave rhythms could be used to “enhance aspects of learning for children who struggle in regular classrooms, perhaps due to attentional deficits”.