Two-Person Synchrony Training

This is not something done very often, but training two people together to increase their brainwave synchrony can be done. Keep in mind, though, that there’s a big difference between doing alpha training or alpha theta training with two people and doing synchrony training. You’ll need something that allows you to send the same stereo signal to each of two headphones at the same time.

Alpha training–or any frequency-band training–is easily be done with the FRE2C design. Hook up one person in channel one and the other in channel 2 and, as suggested, have them hold hands (or in some other way maintain contact between their bodies) with the ground on one of them.

Using the standard FRE2C protocol, you could set frequencies different for each of them. For example, if one has very slow alpha, you could train up 9-13, and the other with fast alpha could train down 13-38 and up 6-13. One potential problem is that the feedback gets a bit unclear, since I may be hearing feedback related to my partner’s brain rather than my own and vice-versa (e.g. I’m doing everything I’m supposed to, but she’s not, so the feedback gives my brain a wrong message.

If I were going to do this, I’d probably do FRE2C with inhibit and reward bands for each based on their brains. 2-9 inhibit and 13-38 inhibit with 9-13 reward would be ideal for both eventually to increase their alpha levels. That design would allow you to track each one of them for slow and fast inhibits and reward activity separately, though the feedback would be combined.

As you may have noticed, doing synchrony training within a single brain is not easy, and doing it between two brains is much more difficult (for the brains). I would use CON4C Alpha Sync. That trains coherence and phase within each brain (CH1/CH2 and CH3/CH4), and it trains between them (CH1/CH3 and CH2/CH4). Each link has its own MIDI sound, so hopefully the brains can begin to sort out which is which, and a melody line which provides information on the total response. I wouldn’t try gamma training between two brains.

As for outcomes, having the two trainees perhaps feel closer at the end of training is cool, but consider asking them to sit side-by-side, holding hands and just listen to some nice 60-beat Baroque Music like Pachelbel Canon, Air on a G-string or others with eyes closed for 20 minutes and see if you get the same result. They don’t need to pay you to do that, and I’m guessing the effect would be largely the same.

The synchrony training, if they are actually able to begin to sync up from time to time, could be much more powerful.