Effects of Audio–Visual Stimulation Automatically Controlled by the Bioelectric Potentials from Human Brain and Heart

Abstract

We have compared the effects of open-loop and closed-loop audio–visual stimulation (AVS) generated on-line on the basis of subjects’ bioelectrical activity. In the first experiment, volunteers were presented with closed-loop AVS consisting of photic- and music-like stimuli generated by transformation of the current parameters of subjects’ electroencephalogram (EEG) and heart rhythm. In the second experiment, prearranged composition of photic and musical stimuli was used without feedback from the current bioelectric activity of the subjects. It has been found that the most pronounced shifts in objective and subjective indicators, such as the maximum increase in the EEG α rhythm power relative to the background, positive emotional reactions, and shifts in the functional state of the body, are recorded when AVS is controlled by the current electrophysiological characteristics of the subjects. These effects result from the involvement of interoceptive mechanisms in the system of mechanisms responsible for normalization of human functional state under AVS, i.e., the mechanisms of multisensory integration and neuroplasticity and the resonance mechanisms of the brain.