by David Elder

Created on: July 12, 2009   Last Updated: July 13, 2009

Brain Power

So much has happened in the last few days that I find it difficult to know where to begin. If I could only go back somehow and warn myself of the consequences of my actions, then maybe all of this could have been avoided. But then again I suppose it was inevitable. My discovery was a result of normal scientific experimentation that would have been replicated eventually. That's what I keep telling myself anyway. It's the only thing that allows me to retain my sanity. In a way, I would welcome the sweet embrace of madness. Maybe then this crushing guilt would be alleviated.

I write this journal from within the confines of my lab. I'm not sure how long the battery on my laptop will hold out, so I'd better get this down while it's still possible. Commercial power went out yesterday, and the emergency generators ran out of gas about an hour ago. You would think that a lab such as this one would have writing materials, but such is not the case. It seems sadly ironic now that we have become such slaves to technology, given the current state of affairs.

For anyone who may find this record someday, my name is Stephen Miller, and I'm employed, or was employed with a company named Intelligen, a corporation known worldwide for medical innovation. I was hired for my background in research, having gained some small notoriety due to my doctoral thesis on brain wave interpretation.

In a nutshell, normal human brainwaves are grouped into four basic categories, depending on their frequency. These frequencies have been given Grecian names, and are always present in our brains in differing degrees, depending upon the activity that we are employed in. The names and accepted functions are as follows and are referred to in Hertz (Hz):

Delta - Occurring at frequencies from .5 Hz to 3 Hz. These frequencies are prevalent during deep dreamless sleep, and on a graph would appear to have the greatest height, or amplitude. Amplitude on an audible graph can be correlated to volume.

Theta - Occurring at frequencies from 4 Hz to7 Hz. These frequencies are dominant during REM sleep and also during waking hours when we are capable of our greatest creativity.

Alpha - Occurring at frequencies from 8 Hz to 12 Hz. These frequencies are customary when we are awake yet resting from mental or physical exertion.

Beta - Occurring at frequencies from 13 Hz to 30 Hz. These frequencies take over when we are most absorbed in what we are doing, and continue throughout times when we need

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