頌缽治療的科學研究

第一種理論解釋音樂的震動同時會對人體影響。拉里.多西(Larry Dossey)博士、魯伯特·謝爾德雷克(Rupert Sheldrake)、哈羅德·薩克斯頓·伯爾(Harold Saxton Burr)、和伊娃詹森(Eva Jansen)等學者都採取了不同的方法來解釋這種現象。詹森描述通過觀察震動對水的影響，正如前面提到的噴水銅盆，水會受到震動的影響，而人體有80%以上是水(Jansen 1992: 39)。因而得知頌缽的振動能夠對我們的身體造成生理影響也就不足為奇了。頌缽的振動會輕微的從內部按摩我們所有的細胞，物理治療師使用超音波執行了相同的結果 (Jansen 1992: 39)。當頌缽的振動的頻率將人體的正常振動和波長轉變為與其自身相匹配時，同步就開始發揮作用。這個意思是，一個健康的器官能以自身的節奏和頻率振動，而一個不健康的器官的自然節奏是受到干擾的。頌缽“重建了原始的諧波頻率，刺激身體重新發現自己的諧波頻率，通過使其振動到與頌缽相同的頻率，這樣當兩者同步時，它便可以進行獨立的振動(vibrate independently)”（Jansen 1992：39）。

另一種理論涉及腦電圖記錄的大腦模式與頌缽影響後產生的腦電波相關。在1960年代，生物物理學家歐文·內爾（Erwin Neher）進行了實驗，並比較了腦電圖(EEGs)改變的腦波與冥想狀態下產生的大腦模式之間的相關性（內爾1961）。β波是在大腦的正常狀態下產生的，但在冥想和放鬆狀態下，大腦中會產生α波。θ波則會出現在“半睡眠”狀態中，δ波只在深度睡眠狀態時產生。人們發現，在敲擊頌缽所產生的波與冥想狀態的α波完全相同。根據 Neher 的研究，“頌缽的振動共振與α腦波狀態的產生有關，而西藏禪修者使用的類似鈸的小鈴鐺（丁夏、碰鈴）可產生改變意識的θ波”（Brummel-Smith 2008：317）。此外，相關了研究已經表明，通常當人們處於冥想狀態時，α 波的產生會增加（Hardt 1994；Travis 2001）。這證明了頌缽對人體的生理和心理影響。治療師發現了頌缽的聲音能夠引發放鬆的狀態，現在正在臨床環境中使用它們。

第三種理論涉及大腦半球間的神經關聯性，即左右大腦活動的平衡度。這種平衡已被腦電圖監測以及其他形式的腦成像技術所記錄下來（Brummel-Smith 2008：319）。音樂和冥想體驗對神經半球內的空間組織具有驚人的特殊效果。哈佛醫學院精神病學（人類學）副教授芭芭拉·萊克斯 (Barbara Lex) 在研究儀式恍惚期間所涉及的神經生物學反應（這是薩滿教的常見做法）時，談到大腦保留了更多影響刺激的能力，“實際上降低負責理性與分析的左大腦，會更有利於活化負責直覺與空間定向的右大腦”（Brummel-Smith, 2008, p.319）

這一空間理論已得到包括奧恩斯坦(Ornstein)、達奎利(D’aquili)、紐伯格(Newberg)、斯普利特斯托瑟(Splittstoesser)和盧(Lou)在內的幾位學者的研究和支持。 達奎利(D’aquili)和 紐伯格(Newberg) 創造了“神經神學-neurotheology”（“靈性科學-spiritual science”）這個術語，理論中認為大腦的左右半球都會被激活以達到冥想狀態。根據斯普利特斯托瑟(Splittstoesser)的說法，在冥想狀態下，左右半球都會產生越來越多的α波和θ波。 這已經用EEG進行了實驗證明。此外，在冥想狀態下，兩個半球的腦血流量都會增加。這已經通過正子斷層掃描 (PET) 掃描顯示出來 (Lous et al 1999)。通過增強的大腦成像設備，包括 PET 掃描和功能性磁共振成像 (MRI) 掃描，持續研究音樂引起的精神狀態和調解改變的神經學影響 (Anderson 1987)。

※ Brummel‐Smith, K. (2008). "Music and the Meditative Mind: Toward a Science of the Ineffable." In The Oxford Handbook of Medical Ethnomusicology, edited by Benjamin D. Koen, Jacqueline Lloyd, Gregory Barz and Karen Brummel‐Smith, 308‐327. New York: Oxford University Press.

※Anderson, R.A. (1987). Wellness Medicine. Lynwood, WA: American Health Press.

※Jansen, E.R. (1992). Singing Bowls: A Practical Handbook of Instruction and Use. Diever, Holland: Binkey Kok Publications.

※Hardt, J.V. (1994). EEG power and coherence in Zen meditation. Presented at the Society for the Study of Neuronal Regulation Conference. Retrieved March 15th, 2010.

※A 15O-H2O PET study of meditation and the resting state of normal consciousness.

※Neher, A. (1961). Auditory driving observed with electrodes in normal subjects.Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 13, 449‐451.

One theory explaining the effect of musical vibration on the human body is synchronization. Theorists such as Dr. Larry Dossey, Rupert Sheldrake, Harold Saxton Burr, and Eva Jansen have all taken different approaches to explain this phenomenon. Jansen describes synchronization by taking a look at the effect vibration has on water. Water is affected by vibration as mentioned earlier in fountain bowls and the human body is more than eighty percent water (Jansen 1992: 39). It is not surprising to learn that the vibrations of the singing bowl have physiological effects on our bodies. The vibrations of the singing bowls cause a light internal massage to all of our cells. The same results are conducted by physiotherapists with ultra-sonic sound waves (Jansen 1992: 39). Synchronization comes into play when the vibrations of the singing bowls transform the normal vibrations and wavelengths of the human body to match their own. Meaning, a healthy organ vibrates at his own rhythms and frequency, while an unhealthy organ’s natural rhythm is disturbed. Singing bowls “recreate the original harmonic frequency, and stimulate the body to rediscover its own harmonic frequency, by making it vibrate to the frequency of the bowl so that when it is synchronized, it can vibrate independently” (Jansen 1992: 39).

Another theory involves brain patterns recorded on EEGs correlating with brain waves created by singing bowls. During the 1960s, biophysicist Erwin Neher experimented and compared correlating brain waves altered by EEGs and brain patterns created in a meditative state (Neher 1961). While beta waves are produced in a normal state of the brain, alpha waves are produced in the brain during a state of meditation and relaxation. Theta waves are present in ‘half sleep’ and delta waves are produced only during deep sleep. Waves produced during a meditative state created by singing bowls are found to be exactly like those of alpha waves. According to Neher’s study, “The vibrating resonance of Tibetan bowls has been correlated with the generation of an alpha brain-wave state, while ting-shang, small cymbal-like bells used by Tibetan meditators, have been described as producing the consciousness-altering theta state” (Brummel-Smith 2008: 317). In addition, it has been shown that generally when one is induced in a meditative state, the production of alpha waves increases (Hardt 1994; Travis 2001).This demonstrates the physiological as well as psychological effects that the singing bowl has on the human body. Therapists have discovered the relaxation that the sounds of the bowls induce and are now using them in a clinical context.

A third theory involves hemispheric neurological coherence, which is the balancing of activity in the right and left brain hemispheres. This balancing has been documented by both EEG monitoring as well as other forms of brain imaging (Brummel-Smith 2008: 319). Musical and meditative experiences have an astounding special effect on spatial organization within the neurological hemispheres. When examining the neurobiology involved during ritual trance (which is a common practice in shamanism), Barbara Lex, associate in psychiatry (anthropology) at Harvard Medical School, talks about the brain’s ability to hold more affecting stimuli, “in effect decreasing the dominance of the analytical left hemisphere in favor of activation of the more intuitive, spatially oriented right hemisphere” (Brummel-Smith, 2008, p.319).

This spatial theory has been studied and supported by several theorists including Ornstein, D’aquili, Newberg, Splittstoesser, and Lou. D’aquili and Newberg (1999) coined the term “neurotheology” (“spiritual science”), theorizing that both left and right hemispheres of the brain become activated in order for one to reach a meditative state. According to Splittstoesser, both left and right hemispheres produce increasing alpha and theta waves during meditative states. This has been show experimentally using EEGs. In addition, an increase of cerebral blood flow occurs in both hemispheres during meditative states. This has been shown through positronemission tomography (PET) scans (Lous et al 1999). The neurological effect of musically induced altered states of mind and mediation continue to be studied through enhanced brain imaging devices including PET scans and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans (Anderson 1987).