Global Broad Band Synchronization (GBBS) and TAG Sync

Neurofeedback:

“At the heart of the universe is a steady, insistent beat: the sound of cycles in sync. It pervades nature at every scale from the nucleus to the cosmos.” says Steven Strogatz [1]. It was not clearly recognized until recently that the EEG also exhibits GBBS because the design of standard “differential” EEG amplifiers automatically removes signals that are shared in common over multiple sites. Thus in 2009 Pocket et al [2] state "...long-range phase synchrony really is a hallmark of consciousness... Our results confirm this prediction, and suggest that consciousness may involve not only gamma frequencies, but the whole range from theta to epsilon," and "In fact the suggestion that theta/alpha or theta/alpha/beta synchrony is global while gamma or beta/gamma-synchrony is local has already been negated by numerous reports of long-range gamma synchrony coinciding with various conscious experiences."

The Icon: Bait balls, Flocks, and Gracefulness:

The icon I have chosen for GBBS is that of a school of fish synchronizing to form a huge “bait ball” to protect themselves from a predator. Birds also can create fantastic flocks that resemble huge forms in the sky. How the synchronous behavior emerges is not known. The movements can be sudden yet graceful, and the ultimate organizing principle of such behavior is not understood. If predator stress continues, the bait ball can split into two or more smaller ensembles. The smaller ensembles then experience different outcomes and thus become epigenetically divergent leading to difficulties reuniting. The head on the left shows the sudden synchrony of acts of body, energy (speech), and mind that can 1) protect individual members from predator stress, or 2) synchronize all components to avoid falling when we stumble, or 3) turning problems into happiness or insight. The question mark suggests the openness that exists between stimulus and response. The global broad band synchronization is visible as gracefulness and may be experienced as a state of grace. Such synchrony harnesses complexity for adaptation. Overwhelming stress, chronic stress, or loss of network support and loss of neuroplasticity can cause breakdown of communication between networks. Effectively the synchronized bait ball has been split. We have discussed this in looking at the effect of sickness behavior on small world networks and complexity. “ ... results strongly suggest that human brain functional systems exist in an endogenous state of dynamical criticality, characterized by a greater than random probability of both prolonged periods of phase-locking and occurrence of large rapid changes in the state of global synchronization, analogous to the neuronal ‘‘avalanches’’ previously described in cellular systems. Moreover, evidence for critical dynamics was identified consistently in neurophysiological systems operating at frequency intervals ranging from 0.05–0.11 to 62.5–125 Hz, confirming that criticality is a property of human brain functional network organization at all frequency intervals in the brain’s physiological bandwidth.” Kitzbichler et al 2009 [3]

Global Broad Band Synchronization and Cross-Frequency Coupling

(CFC):

Imagine three studios separated by soundproof walls. In studio “T” musicians play the low frequency instruments, in studio “A” the mid-frequency instruments and in studio “G” the high frequency instruments. Above each group we see the changes in volume (amplitude) of the sound over a period of 10 seconds recorded by separate microphones in each room. Note in this particular case the amplitudes, as expected, are unrelated. In studio “T” the low frequency amplitude increases over a period of 10 seconds, in studio “A” the amplitude stays the same for those 10 seconds, and in studio “G” the amplitude decreases over time. Now (below) notice how the amplitudes of the different frequencies might vary together (CFC) when the chambers are no longer separated and the conductor appears. . Notice above that in this particular 10 second recording the the amplitude of all three frequency bands rise and fall together. This is called cross- frequency coupling (CFC). Please see the section on CFC here: [CFC]. In the disconnected studios without a conductor (left top) the amplitudes of the different frequency bands in the different rooms vary individually without synchronization between them. When there is a conductor (left bottom) the amplitudes of the different frequency bands can move together over time. In the sound spectrum CFC is one of the ways we tell if we are listening to a single instrument or several. It is one of the ways one section of the brain may recognize, synchronize and communicate with another. The ability to have orchestrated surges in theta, alpha and gamma components of the EEG is crucial to insight and intelligence [4] and is even seen in the near death experience [5].