The Light/Sound “First Language” Neural Reality Experience
March, 2018 – Garnet Dupuis
Neural Reality – A Definition
Neural Reality is presented as a category of experience related to Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, but based on consciousness and the senses turning inward.
Unlike conventional external reality, which combines sensory impressions, symbols, and cognitive interpretation, Neural Reality explores experience that exists before symbolic representation and intellectual interpretation. It is described as a direct, non-symbolic language in which energy itself becomes the medium of information.
Introduction
Light and sound have long been used to influence cognitive states. The article focuses on contemporary exploration of these methods and their relationship to neuroplasticity and new learning, introducing the term Neural Reality to describe this technological approach.
Recent Background
Over roughly the past 150 years, research into the bioelectromagnetic characteristics of the nervous system developed alongside technologies capable of stimulating the CNS.
Hans Berger successfully recorded human brainwaves in 1924 and later coined the term EEG. Edgar Douglas Adrian confirmed his findings, while William Grey Walter identified theta waves and investigated visual responses to rhythmic stimulation. Walter found that strobe lights presented to open or closed eyes could produce visual effects and, at certain frequencies, synchronize activity across the brain.
This work influenced the development of the Dreamachine in the late 1950s, designed to produce hypnagogic experiences through rhythmic flickering light.
The Next Step and Brain Entrainment
The frequency following response describes the tendency of brain activity to respond to sustained periodic signals. This became widely known as brain entrainment.
Historical examples include rhythmic drumming and experiments with flickering light. Researchers observed that specific rhythmic stimulation could produce changes in visual perception and brain activity.
However, the article emphasizes that the brain does not operate as a single-frequency system. Brainwave activity is distributed unevenly across the brain, constantly changing in response to internal and external stimulation, and varies between individuals.
“The idea of the entire brain resting in one single frequency is naïve.”
Brain entrainment can be useful for certain purposes, but the author argues that its effects are easily overvalued when the frequency-following response is separated from the brain’s broader complexity. Sustained periodicity may narrow neural activity and produce altered or trance-like states, but the author considers this less effective for complex learning and integration.
EEG and What Do We Know About the Brain?
Brain research has progressed from early EEG toward technologies such as MEG, fMRI, and CT. The conceptual model of the brain has also evolved—from mechanical and computer-like models toward the Complex Adaptive System (CAS) model.
From this perspective, the brain contains enormous amounts of constantly changing activity. What may appear as “noise” in conventional analysis may instead be part of the complex dynamics through which the brain adapts.
The author describes the brain as existing dynamically between Order and Chaos, emphasizing that chaos is not equivalent to randomness. Instead, it represents high dynamic complexity within an adaptive system.
This Thing We Call the Brain
Neuroplastic methods can be approached through three interconnected avenues:
- Movement
- Mental
- Sensory
Although these approaches can be separated for methodological purposes, the author emphasizes that they function together as an integrated whole.
The brain is presented not simply as the organ inside the skull, but as part of a broader interacting system involving multiple communication pathways. The Complex Adaptive System model provides the preferred framework for understanding this dynamic interaction and designing approaches to neuroplastic change.
The Brain & The Dance of Shiva
Brain science has progressed from localization of specific functions toward a network model in which different regions communicate dynamically according to the task.
The author extends this view toward Connectome Harmonics, emphasizing the enormous complexity of interactions between neural communication nodes and networks.
Rather than seeking a static state of balance, the article proposes harmony as a better description of the brain’s continual movement between:
- Order and Chaos
- Stable and Unstable
- Coherence and Decoherence
- Common and Uncommon
The system continually shifts away from equilibrium in order to remain adaptive.
Stable & Unstable – How the Brain Learns
Learning requires the brain to adapt when existing patterns are no longer sufficient. The article proposes that a Complex Adaptive System cannot move directly from one stable state to a higher level of order. Instead, it sometimes needs to be temporarily destabilized.
Limited instability can create opportunities for new learning, while excessive or prolonged instability can become destructive. The brain may temporarily disrupt existing network organization, explore new configurations, and then return to a more adaptive state.
Dreaming, meditation, spiritual practices, intense physical experiences, and other uncommon states are presented as examples of experiences that may involve temporary changes in ordinary network organization.
Tempered Instability and Hyperplasticity
An unstable state that becomes too severe or lasts too long can be harmful. Conversely, an ordered state maintained for too long may contribute to rigidity and reduced learning.
The article introduces tempered instability as a controlled disruption that may support new learning. Following such instability, the brain may enter a temporary condition called hyperplasticity, described as a more sensitive and impressionable state in which the brain is particularly receptive to information.
The key concept is a temporary “window of opportunity” in which curiosity and novelty can be experienced without triggering overwhelming defensive responses.
Destabilization is Like Panning for Gold
Brain destabilization can produce a wide range of subjective experiences, but not all of them result in useful insight. The article compares this process to panning for gold: destabilization produces a mixture of experiences, from which valuable information may or may not emerge.
The goal is ultimately to integrate useful new information into the brain’s ordered functions, creating a higher level of organization and learning.
The Void of the Unknown
The article describes the unfamiliar as a cognitive vacuum that naturally invites interpretation. When people encounter experiences that do not make immediate sense, they may rapidly impose meaning in order to reduce uncertainty.
This tendency makes the ability to enter the Uncommon especially important for learning and adaptation. Positive change may require a willingness to temporarily move beyond familiar patterns.
Types of Uncommon Experiences Resulting from Destabilization
The article identifies several routes through which uncommon conscious states may emerge, including:
- Questions and unresolved problems that place the mind into a search state.
- Brief disorientation or déjà vu.
- Transitions from sleep or anesthesia.
- Post-concussion states.
- Light, sound, music, and other sensory stimulation.
- Hallucinogenic substances.
- Spiritual and contemplative practices.
- Near-death experiences.
- Physical or psychological disturbances.
- Extreme physical or psychological exertion, including “flow” or “the zone.”
Highly rhythmic stimulation may produce frequency following and a relatively narrow trance-like state, while highly randomized stimulation may produce more variable experiences without sustained periodicity.
What About All Those Colors and Patterns?
Destabilized or uncommon states can involve unusually vivid colors, geometric patterns, altered perceptions of time and space, changes in the sense of self, and unusual thought processes.
The article identifies phosphenes as a general term for internally generated lights, colors, and patterns. Related terms include entoptic phenomena and eidetic or photographic hallucinations.
Research described in the article indicates that different stimulation frequencies can produce recurring geometric forms such as grids, spirals, honeycombs, checkerboards, and other patterns. These effects have been investigated through visual, electrical, mechanical, and chemical stimulation.
The article also notes that more complex hallucinated imagery can be influenced by personal and cultural conditioning, with the mind interpreting ambiguous sensory information through familiar concepts and associations.
Do the Colors and Patterns Have an Intrinsic Value or Meaning?
The author argues that internal lights, colors, patterns, sounds, and sensations may have intrinsic significance within conscious experience. While neurological and neurochemical processes are clearly involved, the author cautions against assuming that association automatically proves direct causation.
The article presents consciousness as an unresolved area of neuroscience and points toward emerging perspectives such as Neurotheology.
From the author's perspective, predictable relationships between signal frequencies, brain activity, visual patterns, and subjective states can be combined to create meaningful Neural Reality experiences.
Neural Reality and the First Language
The author proposes that when consciousness and the senses turn inward, people may directly experience a “First Language” that precedes intellectual interpretation and symbolic representation.
This concept is connected to human expressions such as:
- Paleolithic and Aboriginal art
- Abstract art
- Music
- Dance
These forms are presented as external expressions of an internal experiential language. The direct experience of this “First Language” is described as a source of creative inspiration and a foundation for new learning.
Using the First Language to Excite and Guide Neuroplastic Change
The article identifies three primary avenues for neuroplastic change:
- Movement
- Mental
- Sensory
Across these approaches, the primary trigger is attention, supported by faith or confidence in the method and influenced by emotional state.
The sensory approach is presented as an underdeveloped area of neuroplastic methodology. Light and sound are described as powerful sensory tools, particularly when combined with attention and confidence.
This sensory-based approach introduces the concept of Neural Reality.
Stable and Unstable – The Way the Brain Learns
The brain, understood as a Complex Adaptive System, normally operates through relatively stable patterns. When new learning is required, it can temporarily become less stable and explore alternative configurations.
A healthy adaptive system can move from Stable → Unstable → Stable, potentially returning with a higher level of organization.
Not every period of instability produces useful learning, but excessive stability can also limit adaptation. The capacity to move between the two states is therefore presented as an important characteristic of a healthy adaptive system.
Brain Engagement Not Brain Entrainment
Advanced Neural Reality designs are presented as aiming for Brain Engagement rather than conventional Brain Entrainment.
Instead of maintaining a repetitive narrow frequency corridor, the composition approach uses changing signals to stimulate attention, establish a neurological “vector,” challenge that vector, and then return to the primary signals.
The general sequence is:
- Brief destabilization to stimulate attention.
- Introduction of a primary attractor to establish direction.
- Addition of a secondary attractor to reinforce the vector.
- Introduction of complex destabilizing signals to challenge the established pattern.
- Return of the primary and secondary signals to reinforce integration.
The author describes the light and sound components as different but complementary elements of a unified composition, similar to different instruments contributing distinct signals to a single piece of music.
Hyperplasticity and Integration
The immediate light/sound experience may include vivid colors, geometric patterns, and sounds. The article compares the experience to eating a meal: enjoyment happens immediately, but digestion, assimilation, and utilization occur afterward.
The period immediately following a composition is described as hyperplasticity, a temporary state of increased sensitivity and impressionability. The article proposes that this period can be used to reinforce the intended learning through related Movement or Mental practices.
Brain Gym & Brain Skills
An advanced Neural Reality device is proposed as having two major sections:
1. Neural Reality Brain Gym
The Brain Gym section would provide foundational neural signaling exercises designed to build Neuroplastic Capacity through different levels of challenge.
- Coordination – degree of change in the neural signal pattern.
- Flexibility – degree of complexity in the neural signal pattern.
- Endurance – degree of rate change in the neural signal pattern.
- Strength – degree of intensity in the neural signal pattern.
Each would be offered at Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.
The Brain Gym would also include Brain Network Reinforcement compositions associated with:
- Default Mode Network
- Cognitive Control Network
- Limbic Network
- Dorsal Attention Network
- Ventral Attention Network
- Visual Network
- Somato-Sensory Network
2. Neural Reality Brain Skills
The article proposes at least 80 possible Brain Skills compositions divided into five categories:
- Peace
- Cognition
- Mood
- Dependency
- Exploration
Brain Skills would also be organized into Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced levels according to the principle of matching neuroplastic demand with the person's existing capacity.
Final Perspective
Neural Reality is presented as a sensory-based approach to exploring consciousness, perception, and neuroplasticity through light and sound.
Its central idea is that the brain learns not only through stable repetition, but also through carefully moderated transitions between order and instability. By engaging attention, sensory processing, and adaptive brain dynamics, light/sound compositions are proposed as a way to support new learning and neuroplastic change.
At its deepest level, the article presents the “First Language” as a pre-symbolic dimension of experience—an internal source of perception, creativity, meaning, and learning that can be explored through Neural Reality.