Our brain produces electrical impulses which are the power sparks for all the actions that take place in the body. These impulses travel through neurons producing rhythms known as brain waves. Electrical impulses travel from neuron to neuron, using hundreds of thousands of neurons to transmit and perform a specific function. Brain wave activity can be observed using an electroencephalogram, or EEG.
Since the invention of the EEG, numerous studies have explored the relationship between brain waves and different states of consciousness. We know that different brain wave patterns are extensively related to different states of consciousness, such as intense concentration, alertness or wakefulness, deep sleep, vivid dreams, drowsiness, relaxation, hypnosis, altered states of consciousness, and so on.
In general, there are four main types of brain waves: alpha, beta, theta, and delta. These different types of brain waves are described below, in order of decreasing activity.
Beta Waves
These waves are produced when the brain is awake and engaged in mental activity. They are broad waves and have the highest transmission speed of the four. Their frequency ranges from 14 to 35 hertz (Hz, not the rental car). They denote intense mental activity. When a person is giving a speech, studying, working on a math problem, or engaged in similar mental activities, his/her brain is emitting beta waves.
Alpha Waves
Alpha represents a state of low brain activity and relaxation. These waves are slower and have a greater amplitude (the maximum extent of a vibration or oscillation) than beta waves. Their frequency ranges from 8–14 cycles per second (cps). A person who has finished a task and sits down to rest is often in an alpha state. In the same manner, the mental activity of someone who is taking a walk while enjoying the scenery generates this wave pattern.
Theta Waves
These are waves of even greater amplitude and a lower frequency of 4–8 Hz. A person enjoying a deep calmness will be found in this state, as well as someone who, after driving some distance, suddenly realizes he or she is home, but doesn’t remember the last few miles.
It is said that this wave pattern allows a state of inspiration where new ideas and creative solutions are created. It is a state in which tasks have been automated; attentional and conscious control for their execution is no longer needed, allowing the subject to mentally distance themselves from them. That is, their mind is “somewhere else,” or as sometimes said, the person is “daydreaming.”
Delta Waves
These are waves with the greatest amplitude spectrum (the magnitude of the frequency components of a signal) and the lowest frequency reached, giving readings between 1.5–4 Hz. Delta waves are generated during a state of deep sleep. When we go to sleep, our brain waves successively transition from beta waves to alpha waves, next reaching the theta waves, and finally arriving in the delta waves. During sleeping time, brain waves switch from one brain wave to another in cycles that last for about 90 minutes.
Amazing, isn’t it? Such a wonderful assurance of how God is willing to empower our mental and physical energy.
“The humble worker who obediently responds to the call of God may be sure of receiving divine assistance. To accept so great and holy a responsibility is itself elevating to the character. It calls into action the highest mental and spiritual powers, and strengthens and purifies the mind and heart. Through faith in the power of God, it is wonderful how strong a weak man may become, how decided his efforts, how prolific of great results.
“He who begins with a little knowledge, in a humble way, and tells what he knows, while seeking diligently for further knowledge, will find the whole heavenly treasure awaiting his demand. The more he seeks to impart light, the more light he will receive. The more one tries to explain the word of God to others, with a love for souls, the plainer it becomes to himself. The more we use our knowledge and exercise our powers, the more knowledge and power we shall have.
“Every effort made for Christ will react in blessing upon ourselves. If we use our means for His glory, He will give us more. As we seek to win others to Christ, bearing the burden of souls in our prayers, our own hearts will throb with the quickening influence of God’s grace; our own affections will glow with more divine fervor; our whole Christian life will be more of a reality, more earnest, more prayerful.
“The value of man is estimated in heaven according to the capacity of the heart to know God. This knowledge is the spring from which flows all power. God created man that every faculty might be the faculty of the divine mind; and He is ever seeking to bring the human mind into association with the divine. He offers us the privilege of cooperation with Christ in revealing His grace to the world, that we may receive increased knowledge of heavenly things.
“Looking unto Jesus we obtain brighter and more distinct views of God, and by beholding we become changed. Goodness, love for our fellow men, becomes our natural instinct. We develop a character which is the counterpart of the divine character. Growing into His likeness, we enlarge our capacity for knowing God. More and more we enter into fellowship with the heavenly world, and we have continually increasing power to receive the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of eternity.” Reflecting Christ, 156