Research on SMR Brainwaves and Seizures

The following information on research was summarized from the book A Symphony In The Brain by Jim Robbins.

Originally, there were thought to be four brain wave types until research led to the discovery of the sensorimotor rhythm or SMR brain waves.

These were discovered in 1965 by Barry Sterman, PhD, a professor emeritus in the departments of Neurobiology and Psychiatry at UCLA.

He was conducting EEG (electroencephalograph, the device for recording brainwave electrical patterns) research on cats. In the experiment, a group of cats' brainwaves were recorded by EEG as they were conditioned to press a lever for a reward of milk. After that, a tone sound was added, during which pressing the lever would not give milk. The cats had to learn to wait for the tone to stop before pressing the lever for milk.

While waiting for the tone to stop, the cats would remain absolutely still but very alert as if they were about to pounce on unsuspecting prey. The researchers noticed that the EEG showed a spike at that time in the lower Beta range at 12 -15 hertz . It only occurred over the sensorimotor cortex (the area on the top of the brain between the ears that integrates information from our senses with body actions) so Sterman called it the sensorimotor rhythm or SMR.

He then set up the experiment so the cats would only be rewarded with milk when they produced a half second of SMR brainwaves. Over a period of time, they learned to produce SMR at will. The study was repeated with Rhesus monkeys with the same results. This study demonstrated that brain waves could be voluntarily controlled.

Later, Sterman was conducting a different study for the US Department of Defense on the toxic effects (nausea, vomiting, seizures, and death) experienced by workers breathing or coming in contact with monomethylhydrazine used as rocket fuel. In this study, the brainwaves of fifty cats were monitored by EEG after they were injected with rocket fuel. After a few minutes, the cats vomited and then most went into seizures after an hour. However, in seven of the cats the onset of the seizures was substantially delayed and in three never happened at all!

The researches were at first perplexed as to why those ten cats were resistant to the rocket fuel’s toxicity but they soon realized that those cats had been in the SMR study and had learned to produce SMR brainwaves. They surmised that the SMR training had strengthened the cats' brain functioning at the sensorimotor cortex, similar to the way muscles can be strengthened by lifting weights. The cats' threshold for seizures had been increased and their brains functionally altered to resist the spread of slow theta waves across the cortex that caused seizures.

Sterman later trained a twenty-three year old computer technician named Mary Fairbanks, who worked for a colleague in the laboratory, in SMR. She had suffered severe grand mal seizures two or more times a month since the age of eight. Drugs were of no help to her.

She trained for twenty four hour-long sessions over a period of three months. During that time she became nearly seizure free and was ultimately able to get a driver’s license. The researchers also noticed that she went from being a quiet and unobtrusive individual to being more outgoing with increased personal confidence and an enhanced interest in her appearance.

SMR training is a significant component of most BrainCore neurofeedback therapies.

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