​Can we heighten our capacity to spontaneously synchronize?  How does the notion of being in syncopated rhythmic unison​ actually​ influence our consciousness?

The phenomenon of spontaneous synchronization found in circadian rhythms, in the heart (heart-math) & intestinal muscles, insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas, ambling elephants, sleep -synchronizing manatees, drummers drumming, menstrual cycles, and fireflies, among many other instances is an impressive & evocative way of sensing how we can awaken our neuroacoustic proprioceptive awareness. 

Hearing the "tick-tocks" come into sync ---- from random, to syncopated rhythmic unison is a palpable illustration of neuroacoustic awakening.

In Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart and Mind, neuroscientist David Linden (2015)* elegantly dives into the complexity of the circuitry connecting the body, the brain and circulatory peripherals stimulating our integrative processes of experience. Detailing different types of fibers which conduct information from the sensors in our skin to the brain, body and heart, he outlines how the speed of information flow is critical to the way we can discern various forms of touch.

“…Fast A-fibres are necessary to transmit rapidly changing, highly nuanced signals about object shape, texture, temperature, vibration…C-fibres, in contrast, are not built to inform the parts of the brain involved in discriminative, factual aspects of touch sensation, but rather function to integrate information slowly and feature a "woven web of discernment" touching on both heart and gut nerve fibers stemming from the "vast vagal weave" helping to set the emotional tone of any particular touch (or even near touch -- in the instance of haptic "goose-bumps").

Most recently it's been discovered and (is now being integrated in VR) how the response called ASMR relies on our hair follicle's blood-filled pocket (blood sinus) to produce a vibratory movement of the hair (think of it raising the hair on the back of the neck -- in alert or surprise) which produces micro-changes in the fluid registered by receptors around the hair follicle. 

https://youtu.be/KONyGObNE8I

This information is then transmitted via hundreds of nerve fibers to the brain. An increase in this surface blood pressure increases the sensitivity of the hairs particularly in the case of some C-fibers conveying a special kind of tactile information:  those attuned for interpersonal touch...as caress sensors…(p.78)”.  *Linden, D. (2015). Touch - The Science of Hand, Heart and Mind. Penguin Publishing Group, New York.

​Entirely soft artificial skin -- where both sensors and actuators are integrated -- provides closed-loop control, which offers accurately, reliable modulation of vibratory stimulation felt by the user. This is ideal for wearable applications, such as for testing a person's proprioception/haptic response in various bioregulatory medicinal applications.


A fully wearable prototype for applications in rehabilitation & virtual and augmented reality is set to be studied -- where body stimulation while be measured in conjunction with dynamic brain activity under fMRI.

​Put simply, the “skin” uses pressure triggered by inflated membranes to create a sense of touch far more realistic than that of current haptic feedback solutions, which rely primarily on mechanical vibration technology to replicate a sense of impact.

​Referred to as “Closed-Loop Haptic Feedback Control Using a Self-Sensing Soft Pneumatic Actuator Skin,” the device is composed of a stretchable material only 500 nanometers thick, allowing it to form readily to the body.  Lined with a series of pneumatic actuators, the ultra-compliant thin-metal film's "strain sensors" creates an ultra-realistic tactile sense via vibratory feedback.