The Schumann Resonances and
Human Psychobiology

Our brain waves share and are attuned to certain frequencies of the Schumann's resonances, the ELF signals that pulsate between the Earth's crust and ionosphere.

Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 10, Number 3 (April-May 2003)
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© 2002, 2003 by Richard Alan Miller and Iona Miller

PLANETARY RHYTHMS AND HUMAN HEALTH

Lewis B. Hainsworth of Western Australia seems to be the first researcher to recognise the relationship of brain-wave frequencies to the naturally circulating rhythmic signals, known as Schumann's resonances (SR), in the space between the surface of the Earth and the ionosphere. Hainsworth imparted this awareness to Dr Robert O. Becker, noted electromagnetics pollution expert, and to Harvard neurologists as early as 1975.

In 1977, this phenomenon--the relationship between brain-wave rhythms and the spectrum of the natural Earth ELF (extremely low frequency) signals--became the basis for Itzhak Bentov's Stalking the Wild Pendulum (Dutton, 1977). Later research confirmed a relationship to human health and well-being and even to ESP or psi phenomena.

Hainsworth sent up a clarion cry against hazardous EM (electromagnetic) pollution, whose dangers pale in comparison to the threat of technologies such as HAARP [High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program], which sends violent pulsations into the Earth's ionosphere, potentially disrupting the entire electromagnetic shield of the planet and certainly affecting the whole biosphere and thus human welfare in general.

Some research has suggested that the frequency of the basic Schumann's resonance has recently been rising in value, possibly threatening the whole biosphere, human welfare and our evolutionary future. All biological processes are a function of electromagnetic field interactions. EM fields are the connecting link between the world of form and resonant patterns. They store gestalts or patterns of information. The bridge connecting solar system resonances and brain frequencies resides in our human DNA helix, which co-evolved in the Earth's environment.

Electrical engineer Lewis B. Hainsworth, MA, was among the first to suggest that human health is linked with geophysical parameters by way of the naturally occurring Schumann's ELF. His hypothesis identified naturally occurring features which determine the frequency spectrum of human brain-wave rhythms:
The frequencies of naturally occurring electromagnetic signals, circulating in the electrically resonant cavity bounded by the Earth and the ionosphere, have governed or determined the 'evolution' or development of the frequencies of operation of the principal human brain-wave signals. In particular, the alpha rhythm is so placed that it can in no circumstances suffer an extensive interference from naturally occurring signals.

Hainsworth concluded that the frequencies of human brain-waves evolved in response to these signals. If his hypothesis is correct, conditions for evolutionary changes in human brain-wave patterns have now been established. Furthermore, variations in these patterns can produce mild to disastrous health and behavioural changes.

The nature of the applied stimulus makes it difficult to identify the responses directly, as they are most likely to occur in the form of stress-related conditions. They will therefore show up as drastic increases in mental disturbance, antisocial behaviour, psychosomatic conditions and neurological disturbances. Some electrical field phenomena have already been linked with abnormal cell growth and a decrease in immunocompetency.

All these factors could be expected to lead to the appearance of "new" diseases, probably accompanied by a decline in resistance to many minor infections, an increase in conditions related to abnormal cell development, including cancer, birth defects and infertility, and an increase in psychological disturbance problems, e.g., drug addiction and suicide. These existing psychobiological problems could be expected to increase in scale, but could be studied for deviations from "normal" alpha cycles of 10.4 Hz, with detectable changes in psychological characteristics and mental abilities.

Hainsworth therefore strongly urged that research into widespread measurements of the natural SR signals' frequency variations and field strengths be carried out and compared with statistics for the incidence of heart attacks, suicide attempts, road accidents, social violence, domestic accidents, crimes, etc. Studies are often conducted in this inferential way (such as those by Krippner and Persinger), searching correlations between the phenomena of Earth lights and tectonic strain and reports of UFO sightings, abduction reports and other anomalous psychophysical experiences for an electromagnetic connection to temporal lobe seizures.

We strongly suggest that correlations of broad changes in the modulations of SR be studied in relationship to microwave radiation, ELF signals and HAARP for both immediate and long-term consequences. We have discussed elsewhere the obvious ramifications of such EM pollution and 10-50 Hz modulations on the human system (Miller & Miller, "Synthetic Telepathy", 2001).

We have also discussed the benefits for human well-being and relaxation from entraining with these natural rhythms (The Diamond Body, 1981). When a person is deeply relaxed, slow rhythmic sine-wave patterns can be detected in both the EEG and the heart/aorta resonating oscillator in the 7-8 Hz range. Resonance occurs when the natural vibration frequency of a body is greatly amplified by vibrations at the same frequency from another body.

Oscillators alter the environment in a periodic manner. Thus, standing waves in the body, whether during meditation/relaxation or not, can be driven by a larger signal. Progressively amplified wave-forms, created by resonance, result in large oscillations entraining other circuits in the body tuned to those frequencies. A hierarchy of frequencies thus couples our psychophysical selves to the harmonic frequency of the electrical charge of the Earth, which naturally pulses at the same frequencies. This is hardly a coincidence, as we are adaptive products of our environment.

Our planet is surrounded by a layer of electrically charged particles called the ionosphere. The lower layer of the ionosphere is roughly 60-80 kilometres (40-50 miles) from the crust, and this charged layer is known to reflect radio waves. Bombardment by HAARP signals "pushes" out this boundary layer, thus altering the natural, pulsating rhythm. Natural fluctuations in frequency occur daily, by the lunar month, and in response to solar flares.

Since the ionosphere is a highly charged layer, it forms a so-called capacitor with the Earth. This means that there is a difference in electrical potential between the two, the Earth being negatively charged and the ionosphere being positively charged. This potential varies somewhat, but is around 200 volts per metre. This is a fundamental type of electrical generator. The solar winds, interacting with the upper atmosphere rotation, act as the collector and brushes of a generator. The lower atmosphere can be seen as a storage battery for this gradient potential.

This electromagnetic field around the Earth can be viewed as a stiff jelly. When our bodies move and vibrate, these movements are transmitted to the environment, and vice versa. These fields not only impinge on our bodies, they also affect the charges inside our bodies. When we are standing on the ground, under normal conditions, we are grounded. Our body then acts as a sink for the electrostatic field and actually distorts the force-lines somewhat. The human body also has its own electrostatic field about itself.

These field lines are the result of the various biochemical reactions in the body. This resultant bio-field couples us to the iso-electric field of the planet (Miller & Miller, 1981).

In 1957, German physicist Dr W. O. Schumann calculated the Earth/ionosphere cavity resonance frequencies (which were named after him). He fixed the most predominant standing wave at about 7.83 Hz.

A "tuned system" consists of at least two oscillators of identical resonant frequencies. If one oscillator starts emitting, the other will be activated by the signal very shortly, in the process of resonance, entrainment or kindling (igniting the resonance phenomenon among the neurons). It becomes obvious that in deep meditation, when waves of alpha and theta rhythms cascade across the entire brain, a resonance is possible between the human being and the planet. Energy and information which are embedded in a field are transferred. Perhaps the planet communicates with us in this primal language of frequencies.

According to Hainsworth, the influence of naturally occurring Schumann's resonance signals on brain-wave pattern evolution is formally stated to show that low-power electrical fields could produce evolutionary change. The electrical fields produced by modern electro-technology are then possible sources of evolutionary change. The characteristics of some forms which might result should be considered. Some fields might inhibit survival of existing forms. Because of lack of available data, precise measurements are lacking and must therefore be quantitatively valueless. Technology not only will change, but is changing, human evolution. Only extensive investigation of the naturally occurring signals will give any lead in showing what results might occur.

The possibility exists that human health is linked with geophysical parameters by way of the naturally occurring Schumann's resonances. A number of attempts have been made to discover the correlation through geomagnetic and ionospheric storms. The correlation comes through the biological fact that the human system is apparently sensitive to such low-power ELF signals. We don't know what the range of such a correlation might be.

The frequency values of the SR signals are determined by the effective dimensions of the cavity between the Earth and ionosphere. Thus, any events which change these dimensions will change the resonant frequencies. As Hainsworth warned, "such events could be ionospheric storms, and could even result from a man-made ionospheric disturbance" (emphasis added).

Geomagnetic storms are the magnetic changes produced by ionospheric storms, and are thus associated with conditions capable of changing the SR signals. However, although such storms can produce these changes, measurement of these parameters cannot give any indication of whether the resonance signals have changed to a value outside their normal range or not. Since the undisturbed state of the ionosphere corresponds to the normal SR patterns, then ionospheric disturbances are likely to produce abnormal patterns, but will not necessarily do so in all cases. If biological response is linked to Schumann's resonance signals, this will reduce any apparent link with geomagnetic or ionospheric data.

Trying to determine the relationships between geophysical and biological conditions can become extremely complex. The frequencies of the SR signals change with ionospheric conditions. These conditions change diurnally, seasonally and with variations in solar activity, which, in turn, varies with the 11-year sunspot cycle and also with the 27-29-day lunar cycle, mainly during sunspot minimum periods. Lunar tidal changes in the height and thickness of the layers could also sometimes affect the cavity dimensions and hence the Schumann's frequencies. So can powerful ELF signals from HAARP.

It should be borne in mind that if some signal conditions are harmful, then other conditions might be beneficial. This means that if, for example, seasonal and tidal conditions have resulted in the signals being in a biologically disturbing state, then the advent of a solar flare could result in changes in the signals, bringing them into a biologically beneficial state. The converse could also occur.

If we are sensitive to ELF signals, then when these factors are considered we would expect to get confusion if we try to link any effect with geophysical changes. For instance, there could be incidences of classic states of "lunacy" in some years if damaging signals coincided with full moons, then in other years the observations and analyses would show that the effects were not lunar.

An analysis of the correlation between the incidence of ionospheric disturbance and rate of admission to Heathcote Hospital (Perth, Western Australia) for about a three-year total indicated that when a disturbance occurred then the admission rate changed. The probability of the association being random was of the order of 2000:1 against. However, the fact that sometimes the rate went up and sometimes down showed that ionospheric storms changed the rate of incidence of mental disturbance in a way that is consistent with that change being dependent on the actual causes being linked to variations in the Schumann's resonance signals. At that point, Hainsworth decided to concentrate on trying to get some observational work going on measuring the SR signals.

Hainsworth's set-up used a 2,000-turn, 1-metre-square antenna, and another of 1/3-metre square, plus amplifiers to handle signals from 0 to 30 Hz. His amplified Schumann's signals were analysed in a laboratory. On one occasion the signal dropped to zero amplitude when a solar flare occurred, and did not start recovering for about an hour and a half afterwards. It was originally just under 7 Hz and came back at only just over 6 Hz. His next step would have been to develop a wave analyser to try to pick out individual signals. But the failing health of both himself and his wife prevented this.

The value of proceeding with his seminal work has now increased many-fold due to the threat from the proposed US Missile Defense Shield. This is the offspring of the United States' HAARP program in Alaska, whose raison d'être, or mission statement, allegedly dealing with national security, is vague if not purposefully misleading.

EM FREQUENCIES AND HUMAN RESPONSE

Hainsworth posed a series of questions, all of which are answered with a resounding "yes". This should lead us in the direction of extreme caution towards introducing new EM or ELF sources and ionospheric changes in our environment. He presented his data in two papers (referenced at the end of this article and posted on the website http://www.nwbotanicals.org). His questions are as follows:
1. Does the human biological system contain, use or generate any forms of electrical signal?
2. Does it respond to any of these signals?
3. Does it respond to audible signals at these frequencies?
4. Does it respond to optical signals at these frequencies?
5. Do human signals change with psychological or mental states, such as stress or problem solving?
6. Does the human system respond to any very, very low-power electromagnetic signals?

Brain waves have only been studied since about the mid-1920s, and the signal form that is apparently most widely known and identified is the alpha rhythm. The frequency of this signal varies from individual to individual, but it lies between about 7-8 Hz and 12 Hz, with an average value of 10.5 Hz. Theta and beta rhythm signals also occur, and are identifiable by EEG below the 8 Hz and above the 12 Hz frequencies. Since the discovery and measurement of these signals, a great deal of effort has been devoted to trying to work out how they originated in the first place and what determines their frequencies of operation.

In the early to mid-1950s, Schumann (a geophysicist almost certainly uninterested in neurology) suggested that electromagnetic signals might circulate at extremely low frequencies in the electrically resonant cavity between the Earth and the ionosphere. He was right. The signals came to be called "Schumann's resonances". One major component was originally predicated at a frequency of about 10 Hz. In 1959 it was measured to be slightly different. Meanwhile, the military co-opted the discovery for using ELF signals for submarine communications.

In fact, the first mode of these circulating signals has an average value of 7.8 Hz, with a typical diurnal range of from 7.2 to 8.8 Hz, and the second mode has an average value of 14.1 Hz and a range of from 13.2 to 15.8 Hz. These match the brain-wave theta rhythm and beta rhythm nicely. The blank range between the two modes is a very reasonable match with the normal frequency range of the human alpha rhythm, between 8 to 12 Hz or cycles.

Additionally, it was found that there is minimum (zero) power circulating in the Earth/ionosphere cavity at 10.4 Hz--which is virtually an exact match for the average value of the alpha rhythm. Hainsworth points out that the existence of these natural signals and the close relationship of their frequencies of oscillation were facts unknown to senior neurologists and mental health specialists as late as 1975.

Hainsworth argued that up to the end of 1979, no long-term systematic measurements of any great value were being made of the Schumann's resonance signals. Measurements were being made only intermittently for the purpose of obtaining research data for use by post-graduate geophysicists in constructing esoteric mathematical models of the ionosphere. It follows from this that, until long after the end of 1979, no figures on these signals were available. Consequently, no "expert" can produce numerical evidence to support an objection to Hainsworth's original hypothesis, since the only numerical values available are those favouring it.

However, Hainsworth left us with some open-ended questions:
7. Has any evidence ever been obtained to indicate that the human system is totally unaffected by externally applied electromagnetic fields?
8. Have any measurement programs ever been attempted to show whether the human system is (a) totally unaffected, (b) always affected, or (c) sometimes affected by naturally [or artificially] occurring electromagnetic signals?
9. Has the existence of such signals, having a close relationship with human biological signal frequencies, been known for many years?
10. Have those relationships been studied with adequate protocols in any detail?

Schumann's resonances are actually observed, by experiment, occurring at several harmonic frequencies between 6 and 50 cycles per second (one cycle equals one hertz). Specifically they are found at 7.8, 14, 20, 26, 33, 39 and 45 Hz, with a daily variation of around ±0.5 Hz.

Only as long as the properties of Earth's electromagnetic cavity remain about the same do these frequencies remain the same. Cycles may vary somewhat due to ionospheric response to solar cycle activity and properties of the atmosphere and magnetosphere. Projects, such as HAARP, which heat up or blast out the ionosphere pose a potential threat of catastrophic proportions to this interactive system.

MEASURING BRAIN WAVES BY EEG

The resonant cavity formed between the ionosphere and the Earth produces rhythmic waves capable of entraining and phase-locking with brain waves.

Even at the turn of this millennium, Hainsworth (now deceased) seems to have been unfamiliar with extensive work in brain-wave research in neurology, hypnotherapy, biofeedback and neural feedback. This research includes extensive experiments in frequency-following response (FFR) and relating brain waves and brain-wave deficiencies to psychobiological states.

The brain is a massive source of ELF signals that get transmitted throughout the body through the nervous system, which is sensitive to magnetic fields. Brain waves and natural biorhythms can be entrained by strong external ELF signals, such as stationary waves at Schumann's resonances. Entrainment, synchronisation and amplification promote coherent large-scale activity rather than typical flurries of transient brain waves. Thus, resonant standing waves emerge from the brain, which under the right conditions facilitates internal and external bio-information transfer via ELF electromagnetic waves. These SR waves exhibit non-local character and nearly instant communication capability.

The EEG (electroencephalograph) measures brain waves of different frequencies within the brain. Rhythmicity in the EEG is a key variable in the coordination of cortical activity. Electrodes are placed on specific sites on the scalp to detect and record the electrical impulses within the brain. Frequency is the number of times a wave repeats itself within a second. It can be compared to the frequencies on a radio. Amplitude represents the power of electrical impulses generated by the brain. Volume or intensity of brain-wave activity is measured in microvolts.

Raw EEG frequency bands include gamma (25-60 Hz); beta (12-25 Hz); alpha (7-12 Hz); theta (4-7 Hz); and delta (less than 4 Hz). Their ranges overlap one another along the frequency spectrum by 0.5 Hz or more. These frequencies are linked to behaviours, subjective feeling states, physiological correlates, etc. Clinical improvement with EEG biofeedback is traceable to improved neuroregulation in basic functions by appeal to their underlying rhythmic mechanisms.

Schumann's resonance forms a natural feedback loop with the human mind/body. The human brain and body developed in the biosphere, the EM environment conditioned by this cyclic pulse. Conversely, this pulse acts as a "driver" of our brains and can also potentially carry information. Functional processes may be altered and new patterns of behaviour facilitated through the brain's web of inhibitory and excitatory feedback networks. Functional processes may be altered and new patterns of behaviour facilitated through the brain's web of inhibitory and excitatory feedback networks.

The brain has its own set of vibrations it uses to communicate with itself and the rest of the body. EEG equipment distinguishes these waves by measuring the speed with which neurons fire in cycles per second. At their boundaries these waves can overlap somewhat, merging seamlessly into one another--so different researchers may give slightly different readings for the range of cycles per second (Hz). The rate of cycling determines the type of activity, kindling wave after wave over the whole surface of the brain by igniting more neurons.

The frequency bands and wave characteristics are described as follows: