US006091994A

Ulllted States Patent [19] [11] Patent Number: 6,091,994

L00s [45] Date of Patent: *Jul. 18, 2000

[54] PULSATIVE MANIPULATION OF NERVOUS FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

SYSTEMS 9409850 5/1994 United Kingdom ................... .. 607/88

Inventor: Hendricus G- LOO~S, Cresta Way, Primary Examiner_cary O’Connor

Laguna Beach, Callf- 92651 Assistant Examiner—Ryan Carter
[*] Notice: This patent is subject to a terminal dis- [57] ABSTRACT
Clalmer' Method and apparatus for manipulating the nervous system
by imparting subliminal pulsative cooling to the subject’s
[21] Appl' N05 09/144,762 skin at a frequency that is suitable for the excitation of a
[22] Filed: Aug 31, 1998 sensory resonance. At present, tWo major sensory reso
nances are known, With frequencies near 1/2 HZ and 2.4 HZ.
Related US Application Data The 1/2 HZ sensory resonance causes relaxation, sleepiness,
ptosis of the eyelids, a tonic smile, a “knot” in the stomach,
[63] Continuation-in-part of application No. 08/580,346, Dec. 0r SeXllal eXCiteIIleIlt, depending 0n the precise frequency
28, 1995, Pat. No. 5,800,481. used. The 2.4 HZ resonance causes the sloWing of certain
51 I L C17 n _ A61F 2 00 cortical activities, and is characterized by a large increase of
%52} 618 C] 607/1/00 the time needed to silently count backward from 100 to 60,
58 F,‘ I'd """ ''''' '' 102 With the eyes closed. The invention can be used by the
[ ] 1e 0 earc 48 1/52__60’0 55; 558’ general public for inducing relaxation, sleep, or sexual
/ ’ ’ ’ / _ excitement, and clinically for the control and perhaps a
. treatment of tremors, seizures, and autonomic system dis
[56] References Clted orders such as panic attacks. Embodiments shoWn are a
US, PATENT DOCUMENTS pulsed fan to impart subliminal cooling pulses to the sub
4 676 246 6/1987 K 128/399 ject’s skin, and a silent device Which induces periodically
’ ’ olenaga """"""""""""""""" " varying ?oW past the subject’s skin, the How being induced
333110? :g'al """""""""""""" " by pulsative rising Warm air plumes that are caused by a thin
5’315’994 5/1994 Guibert et a1: """"""""" H01 resistive Wire Which is periodically heated by electric current
5,327,886 7/1994 Chiu ... ... ... ... ... .. . . . . .. 607/96 Pulses

5,447,530 9/1995 Guibert et al. 607/107

5,800,481 9/1998 Loos ...................................... .. 607/100 12 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets

11

3%F‘MONOSTABLE I]
GENERATOR
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U.S. Patent Jul. 18,2000 Sheet 1 0f5 6,091,994
U.S. Patent Jul. 18,2000 Sheet 4 0f5 6,091,994

24m
7//////
DRIVER
FIG“?
GENERATOR’

DRIVER p41 FKG.8

GENERATOR
U.S. Patent Jul. 18,2000 Sheet 5 0f5 6,091,994

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I I I IIIII] I I I I lIll] l I lIllIII I

1 10 100 1000
DISSIPATED PULSE POWER, mW
<50 SEC 0
40 MIN. 100-60 COUNT
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FIG.]I0

GENERATOR

Y
 6,091,994
1 2
PULSATIVE MANIPULATION OF NERVOUS Reliance on periodic frequency modulation of afferent
SYSTEMS spike trains, together With exploitation of the resonance
phenomenon, leads to a method and apparatus for manipu
Continuation-in-part of application No. 580,346, Dec. lation of nervous systems by imparting subliminal cooling
28, 1995, now US. Pat. No. 5,800,481, Sep. 1, 1998. pulses to the subject’s skin. The invention can be used by the
general public to induce relaxation, sleep, or sexual
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION excitement, and clinically for control and perhaps a treat
The invention relates to in?uencing the nervous system of ment of tremors and seiZures, as Well as autonomic
a subject by pulsative stimulation of sensory receptors, disorders, such as panic attacks.
relying on the mechanisms of sensory resonance and fre 10 The cooling pulses may be imparted to the skin by
quency modulation of spontaneous spike patterns, as dis convective or conductive means. In the latter case heat is
cussed in US. Pat. No. 5,782,874. In that patent, the extracted from the skin in pulsative fashion by a fast Peltier
stimulation is provided by an external electric ?eld applied junction that is placed on the skin. In the convective method,
to the skin of the subject. The electric ?eld appears to cause cooling is provided through convective and evaporative heat
a modulation of the spiking patterns of certain cutaneous 15 transfer by means of a pulsed air jet aimed at the skin of the
receptors, so that a pulsative ?eld gives rise to a frequency subject, or alternatively by a device Wherein a periodic air
modulation (fm) of the produced spike trains. Afferent sink draWs atmospheric air past the skin of a nearby subject,
nerves carry the frequency modulated spike trains to the the periodic air sink being induced by pulsative rising Warm
brain, Where in certain neural circuits the evoked fm signals air plumes produced by a thin resistive Wire that is heated by
cause excitation of a resonance With observable physiologi 20 current pulses passed by a ?eld effect transistor Which is
cal consequences. One such “sensory resonance” that occurs controlled by voltage pulses from a generator.
near 1/2 HZ causes sleepiness, relaxation, a tonic smile, ptosis Using the latter device, the 2.4 HZ sensory resonance has
of the eyelids, a tense feeling in the stomach, or sexual been explored, employing the silent count from 100 to 60 as
excitement, depending on the precise pulse frequency used. a resonance detector. The measured counting times de?ne an
The 1/2 HZ sensory resonance can also be excited by mag 25
excitation footprint in the plane Which has pulse poWer and
netic ?elds, as discussed in US. Pat. No. 5,935,054 pulse frequency as coordinates.
Another knoWn sensory resonance occurs near 2.4 HZ and
A compact embodiment is shoWn in the form of a battery
causes a sloWing of certain cortical activities.
poWered device, in Which the resistive Wire and the voltage
SUMMARY 30
generator are contained in a single small casing.
Experiments have shoWn that sensory resonances can be
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
excited by imparting cooling pulses to the skin, When the
pulse frequency is set to the resonance frequency of the FIG. 1 shoWs a preferred embodiment Where pulsative
sensory resonance, and the pulses have a proper subliminal cooling of a subject’s skin is achieved by a periodic air ?oW
amplitude. The sensory resonance near 1/2 HZ causes auto 35 caused by a thermally induced air sink.
nomic responses characteriZed by relaxation, sleepiness, FIG. 2 shoWs an embodiment Where pulsative cooling of
ptosis of the eyelids, a tonic smile, a “knot” in the stomach, the subject’s skin is brought about by a fan poWered by a
or sexual excitement, depending on the precise frequency voltage that is periodically interrupted.
used. The sensory resonance near 2.4 HZ causes sloWing of
FIG. 3 shoWs a voltage generator connected to a heatpatch
certain cortical activities and is indicated by a large increase 40
for delivering heat pulses to the skin of a subject.
in the time needed to count silently backWard from 100 to
60, With the eyes closed. The described effects occur only if FIG. 4 depicts the delivery of heat pulses to the skin of a
the amplitude of the cooling pulses falls in a certain range subject by an air jet With a periodic temperature.
called the effective intensity WindoW. FIG. 5 shoWs a circuit for producing a chaotic voltage.
The stimulation is thought to involve the folloWing. The 45 FIG. 6 shoWs a circuit for generating a complex Wave.
subliminal pulsative cooling of the skin causes a slight FIG. 7 shoWs an embodiment Where pulsative cooling of
frequency modulation (fm) of the spike trains that are a subject is obtained With a sWiveling fan.
produced by cutaneous thermoreceptors. The spiking is FIG. 8 shoWs an embodiment Where pulsative cooling of
transmitted to the brain by afferent nerves that report skin a subject is obtained by an air jet that is periodicly de?ected
temperature. The frequency modulation of the spike train 50 by vanes.
from a single thermoreceptor cannot be spotted by the brain, FIG. 9 shoWs the results of experiments for excitation of
because the fm variations in the spike train are sWamped by the 2.4 HZ sensory resonance With the device of FIG. 1.
the much larger stochastic spiking variations. HoWever, if
afferents of a large number of affected thermoreceptors FIG. 10 depicts an embodiment Wherein a thin resistive
synapse on a single summing neuron, then the fm variations 55
?lm is used to produce a periodic Warm air plume Which
add coherently in the hillock potential, Whereas the stochas induces a periodic air sink that causes pulsative air ?oW past
tic variations largely even out. Consequently, the signal to the subject.
noise ratio for the fm signal is increased, and the more so the FIG. 11 shoWs a Peltier junction for imparting pulsative
larger the skin area exposed to the cooling pulses. The fm cooling of a subject’s skin by conduction.
signal is demodulated by further neural circuitry and the 60 FIG. 12 shoWs an embodiment Wherein a generator and a
resulting signal can cause excitation of a resonance in thin resistive Wire are contained in a single small casing.
certain subsequent processing circuits. The upper bound of
the effective intensity WindoW is thought to arise from the DETAILED DESCRIPTION
action of nuisance guarding neural circuits that block sub In the excitation of sensory resonances by external elec
stantial repeditive nuisance signals from higher processing. 65 tric [1] or magnetic [2] ?elds, the ?elds appear to induce in
The loWer boundary of the WindoW is simply due to a certain receptors a slight frequency modulation of their
detection threshold. normal spontaneous stochastic spiking. Since cutaneous
 6,091,994
3 4
thermoreceptors exhibit spontaneous spiking and report skin be excited. In these experiments the How of air over the
temperature to the brain by frequency coding [3,4] or a more subject’s face Was too sloW to be sensed, and the periodic
elaborate modulation [5], the question arises Whether per temperature ?uctuations induced in the skin of the subject
haps sensory resonances can also be excited through cuta Were subliminal as Well. The apparatus is thus suitable for
neous thermoreceptors. It has been found in our laboratory manipulating a subject’s nervous system in a covert manner.
that this is indeed the case; When temperature pulses of In the embodiments shoWn in FIGS. 3 and 4 periodic skin
certain intensity and With a frequency near 1/2 HZ are induced temperature variations are caused by heat pulses, but cooling
in the skin, the subject experiences an autonomic nervous pulses may be used instead. Depending on the ambient
system response that involves sleepiness, relaxation, a tonic temperature, cutaneous Warm receptors or cold receptors or
smile, ptosis of the eyelids, a “knot” in the stomach, or 10 both Will respond to the cooling pulses by modulating their
sexual excitement, depending on the precise frequency used. spike trains. The spike trains are transmitted to the brain by
It has also been found that the 2.4 HZ cortical resonance can afferent nerves, so that the pulsative modulation brought on
be excited thermally as Well. For the physiological effects to by the cooling pulses evokes a pulsative signal Which can be
occur, the temperature pulse amplitude must fall in a certain used for manipulation of the nervous system, provided that
range, here called the effective intensity WindoW. The inten 15 the parameters of the cooling pulses are chosen appropri
sities in the WindoW are found to be deeply subliminal. ately. For instance, by tuning the pulses to the resonance
The discovery leads to a method and apparatus for frequency of a sensory resonance, the apparatus for impart
manipulating nervous systems, Wherein subliminal tempera ing pulsative cooling to the skin can be used for exciting in
ture pulses are induced in the skin by conductive, the subject a sensory resonance.
convective, or radiative means. The invention may be used In the convective mode, pulsative cooling may be
by the general public as a sleeping aid or for facilitating imparted to the skin through a pulsing air jet produced by a
relaxation or sexual arousal, and clinically for the control fan that is poWered by a pulsating voltage. An embodiment
and perhaps a treatment of tremors and seiZures as Well as is shoWn in FIG. 2, Where the fan 34 labeled “FAN” is
disorders of the autonomic nervous system, such as panic poWered via a ?eld effect transistor 4 controlled by a signal
attacks. 25 8 that is periodically interrupted. This signal is produced by
An embodiment of the invention is shoWn in FIG. 3, the monostable multivibrator 9, labeled “MONOSTABLE”,
Where a resistive heat patch 3 is connected via a thin coaxial in response to a square Wave voltage from the generator 1,
cable 2 to the output terminals 21 of a battery-poWered labeled “GENERATOR”. The Width of the negative pulses
voltage generator. The latter is built around tWo RC timers in signal 8 is manually set by the pulse Width control 37, and
16 and 17. Timer 16 (Intersil ICM7555) is hooked up for the frequency of the square Wave output of the generator 1
astable operation; it produces a square Wave voltage With a is manually set With the tuning control 6. The supply voltage
frequency determined by potentiometer 18 and capacitor 19. for the generator 6 is derived, through the resistive divider
The square Wave voltage at output 20 drives the LED 7 and 10, from the output of the poWer supply 12, labeled “PWR”,
appears at one of the output terminals 21, after voltage Which is inserted into a Wall poWer socket. The fan produces
division by potentiometer 22. The other output terminal is 35 in the surrounding atmospheric an air jet 35 Which has a
connected to the negative supply. Automatic shutoff of the momentum ?ux vector 7, de?ned as the integral, over a
voltage that poWers the timer 16 at point 23 is provided by stationary plane that intersects the Whole jet, of vvnpdA,
a second timer 17 (Intersil ICM7555), hooked up for Where v is the local air velocity vector, vn its component
monostable operation. Shutoff occurs after a time interval perpendicular to the surface element dA, and p is the air
determined by resistor 24 and capacitor 25. Timer 17 is density. The pulsative interruptions of the voltage to the fan
poWered by a battery 26, controlled by a sWitch 27. Round cause the momentum ?ux vector of the jet to vary in
ing of the square Wave is provided by an RC circuit pulsative manner, in this case by changing its magnitude.
consisting of a resistor 28 and capacitor 29. The output Hence heat Will be extracted in pulsative manner from the
terminals 21 are connected, via the cable 2, to the resistive skin of a subject 11 Whose face is exposed to the jet, as the
heat patch 3, Which therefore undergoes periodic changes of 45 air velocity over the skin varies periodically. The pulse
temperature When the generator is operating. When the heat Width control 37 is to be adjusted such as to make the
patch 3 is placed on the skin, cutaneous thermoreceptors are amplitude of the cooling pulses fall inside the effective
exposed to a periodic temperature ?uctuation, and the 1/2 HZ intensity WindoW for the sensory resonance to be excited. An
sensory resonance can be excited if the skin temperature AC fan can be used, With the poWer to the fan modulated in
oscillation has the proper amplitude. It turns out that for a manner responsive to the voltage pulses from the genera
these amplitudes the skin temperature oscillation is sublimi tor. It is noted that the fan can induce pulsative air ?oW over
nal. Abattery voltage of 3 volt gives satisfactory results, but the skin of a subject not positioned directly in the air jet. This
other battery voltages may be used or one may employ a is because the jet entrains ambient air in the manner dis
poWer supply. cussed in ref. [9], and also because the fan takes in ambient
embodiment With convective heat pulse induction is 55 air, thereby inducing an “intake” air How in the surrounding
depicted in FIG. 4. ShoWn are a poWer supply 33, labeled atmosphere. Indeed, the device of FIG. 2 has been found
“PWR”, that provides poWer for a fan 34, labeled “FAN”; effective for exciting the 1/2 HZ and 2.4 HZ sensory
the latter produces a jet 35 in the surrounding air. The jet is resonances, With the subject positioned several meters off
made to pass through a grid 36 resistor Wires that are driven the side of the jet.
by voltage pulses from a generator 1, labeled “GEN”, With A preferred embodiment Wherein pulsative cooling is
pulse frequency tuning control 6. The voltage pulses cause imparted to a subject’s skin in a silent manner is shoWn in
the resistor Wires to be heated in a periodic manner, With the FIG. 1, Where the electric current through thin resistive
result that the air jet temperature acquires a Wave-like Wires 5, mounted in a holloW cylinder 14 such as to be in
pattern that is convected doWnstream With the jet ?oW. contact With ambient atmospheric air, is modulated by the
Hence, a subject 11 Whose face is exposed to the jet Will 65 ?eld effect transistor 4, Which is controlled by the square
undergo a pulsative heat ?ux to the skin. Experiments have Wave voltage from the generator 1, labeled “GENERA
shoWn that With this device the 1/2 HZ sensory resonance can TOR”. The latter is poWered by a relatively loW supply
 6,091,994
5 6
voltage from a resistive divider 10, that receives supply vector magnitude. Instead, one may vary the direction of the
voltage from a Wall power supply 12, labeled “PWR”. The vector. Embodiments of this kind are shoWn in FIGS. 7 and
frequency of the square Wave from the generator 1 is set With 8. In FIG. 7, a DC or AC fan 34, labelled “FAN”, is mounted
the manual tuning control 6. The holloW cylinder 14 is on the shaft of a stepper motor 38 Which is actuated by
mounted such that its axis is vertical. With this arrangement, positive and negative pulses from the driver 13, labelled
the thin resistive Wires 5 are heated periodically by the “DRIVER”, Which in turn receives a pulse signal from the
current pulses that are passed by the ?eld effect transistor 4. generator 1, labelled “GENERATOR”. In response to this
As a result, the Wire temperature varies in a pulsating signal, driver 13 produces a periodic signal, each period
manner, so that a Warm air plume 15 develops periodically consisting of N positive pulses and N negative pulses,
inside the cylinder 14, and rises by buoyancy. By virtue of 10 thereby causing the fan to sWivel back and forth With an
its vertical motion, this plume draWs air from the ambient amplitude determined by the integer N selected With the
atmosphere, thereby periodically creating an air sink in this amplitude control 41. The sWivel motion of the fan causes
region. This air sink draWs atmospheric air from the the momentum vector 7 to change its direction in an oscil
surroundings, inducing an air How 30 past the head of the lating manner, thereby imparting pulsative cooling to the
nearby subject 11. The air How is further enhanced by 15 skin of a properly positioned subject 11. The frequency of
ambient air that is entrained by the rising Warm air plume. the pulsative cooling can be selected With the tuning control
Since the air sink is periodic, the air How 30 varies in a 6 of generator 1. The driver 13 can be structured in a number
periodic manner, and thus imparts pulsative cooling to the of Well-knoWn Ways, for instance as a CMOS sWitch that
subject’s skin. There may be only a single resistive Wire 5, causes sWitching betWeen positive and negative pulses,
or several Wires may be used in a parallel and serial together With a counter that controls the CMOS sWitch.
combination such as to give an appropriate total resistance. An alternate embodiment With a pulsative momentum
AC poWer may be used to provide the current through the vector direction is shoWn in FIG. 8, Where the DC or AC fan
resistive Wires 5, and the ?eld effect transistor must then be 34, labelled “FAN”, produces an air jet 35 that is made to
replaced by an appropriate modulator. Optionally, the pass through de?ector vanes 39 mounted on the shaft of a
divider 10 can be omitted, so that the generator and the FET 25 stepper motor 38 that is controlled by the driver 13, labelled
4 have the same supply voltage. “DRIVER”, Which in turn receives pulses from the generator
In the embodiments shoWn in FIGS. 1 and 2, acoustic 1, labelled “GENERATOR”. The stepper motor shaft rotates
effects are induced in addition to the pulsative cooling of the back and forth through a range that is set by the amplitude
subject’s skin. In the arrangement of FIG. 2 the pulsative control 41 of driver 13. The latter outputs to the stepper
air?oW of the jet past the face of the subject generally motor a periodic signal, each period consisting of N positive
causes, by virtue of the ram effect, slight pulsations of the pulses folloWed by N negative pulses. The pulses are derived
atmospheric pressure at the subject’s ears. Moreover, the from the output of generator 1; the latter has a frequency
pulsating speed of the fan causes at its inlet a periodic air control 6. The oscillating vanes 39 provide a pulsative
sink that acts as an acoustic source. Similarly, in the device de?ection to the air jet, and thereby a periodic direction
of FIG. 1, the periodic air sink that occurs at the bottom of 35 variation to the momentum ?ux vector 7, Which causes
the cylinder 14 constitutes an acoustic monopole Which pulsative cooling to be imparted to the skin of a properly
radiates loW frequency sound, and the periodic expansions positioned subject 11. The driver 13 can have the same
of the air heated by the Wire constitutes another sound structure as driver 13 in FIG. 7, discussed above.
source. Hence, in both cases sound With the generator
In the embodiments of FIGS. 7 and 8, cooling pulses are
frequency is induced at the subject’s ears. Although this
imparted to the skin by convective heat transfer, Which is
sound is inaudible because of its loW frequency and
understood to include evaporative heat transfer as Well.
intensity, it may cause excitation of sensory resonances
through stimulation of the vestibular nerve, as discussed in
Alternatively, cooling pulses may be imparted to the skin by
extracting heat through conduction, as in FIG. 11, Where a
US. Pat. No. 6,017,302[6]. Hence, the apparatus of FIG. 1 fast Peltier junction 61 is placed in conductive contact on the
or FIG. 2 may excite sensory resonances simultaneously 45
skin 63 of the subject; the Wording includes the case, shoWn
through tWo different sensory modalities, viZ. cutaneous in FIG. 11, that a thin electrically insulating sheet 62 is
thermoreceptors and the vestibular end organ. One may
present betWeen the junction and the skin. Such a sheet 62
expect considerable integration of these signals in the central may also be placed on top of the junction, as shoWn in FIG.
nervous system, since the resonance frequencies for excita
11. The Peltier junction 61 is driven by voltage pulses from
tion by different sensory modalities are found to be nearly
the same. HoWever, the integration can be only partial, since the generator 1 labelled “GENERATOR”, With tuning con
trol 6.
habituation to the stimulation involved in sleeping aid
applications of devices discussed here and elseWhere [1,2, The cooling pulses imparted to the skin may have perti
6,8] can be thWarted by changing to another sensory modal nent parameters other than frequency and intensity. For
ity after a feW nights. Therefore, When excitation of a 55
instance, for the purpose of thWarting habituation to the
sensory resonance occurs via skin temperature afferents as stimulation, irregular features may be introduced in the
Well as through the vestibular nerve, these exitations are generator pulses, such as short-term frequency variations of
expected to enforce each other only partially. The devices of a chaotic or stochastic nature. A chaotic Wave can also be
FIGS. 1 and 2 are found to be effective as sleeping aids, but used for upsetting pathological oscillatory modes in neutral
We have noticed a peculiar side effect in the form of a circuits, thereby providing some measure of control of
slightly unpleasant feeling that Was not experienced With tremors, for instance in Parkinson patients.
electric [1] or magnetic [2] ?eld stimulation, or With the heat Chaotic or stochastic heating or cooling pulses can cause
patch device of FIG. 3. The effect may perhaps be due to the excitation of a sensory resonance, provided that the pulses
involvement of multiple sensory modalities. The matter have a spectral peak of proper intensity close to the resonant
needs further investigation. 65 frequency.
In the embodiment of FIG. 2 the pulsative variation of A chaotic Wave can be generated in a simple manner by
momentum ?ux vector 7 takes the form of a variation of the cross coupling of tWo timers. FIG. 5 shoWs such a hookup,
 6,091,994
7 8
Where timers 72 and 73, each labeled “TIMER”, have their 10 minutes. This is thought to be due to changes in the
output pins 74 and 75 connected crosswise to each other’s chemical environment of the resonant neural circuitry,
control voltage pins 76 and 77, via resistors 78 and 79. The caused by changes in the concentration of neurotransmitters
control voltage pins 76 and 75 have capacitors 80 and 81 to or homones that result from the resonance or from the
ground. If the timers are hooked up for astable operation subsequent change in the autonomic nervous state. The sloW
With slightly different frequencies, and appropriate values shift of ptosis frequency initially is so large that ptosis is lost
are chosen for the coupling resistors and capacitors, the if the frequency is not adjusted. The ptosis is accompanied
output of either timer is a chaotic square Wave With an oval by a state of deep relaxation, and often by a slight dull
attractor. Example circuit parameters are: R7=1.22 MQ, pressure at a spot about 1 cm above the bridge of the nose.
R27=1.10 MQ, R29=440 KQ, R30=700 KS2, C8=0.68 pf, 10 In extensive sleep experiments it has been found that
C28=1.0 pf, C31=4.7 pf, and C32=4.7 pf. For these param pulse frequencies effective for inducing sleep are someWhat
eters the output 74 of timer 72 is a chaotic square Wave With
a poWer spectrum that has large peaks near 0.40 HZ and loWer than the steady ptosis frequency. Before using a
0.62HZ. The chaotic Wave is suitable for the excitation of the pulsative heating or cooling device for the ?rst time as a
1/2 HZ resonance, and has also been used successfully to sleeping aid, it is recommended that a steady ptosis fre
15 quency is ?rst determined by manual scanning and adjust
control a tremor of non-Parkinson nature.
The voltage generator of FIG. 3 has an oscillator of the
ing. Then, starting With this frequency, the subject should
adjust the tuning control every feW minutes by a small
RC type, but other types of oscillators can be used. For
doWnWard frequency step, until sleep sets in. The ?nal tuner
instance, the generator can be built as a digital device, in setting should be Written doWn in the morning, as it can be
Which a square Wave output is derived from a clock signal
used as a ?xed setting for the next session.
by frequency division. Chaotic signals, time variation of
frequency, programmed frequency sequences, automatic The experiments on ptosis, relaxation and sleep suggest
turn on and shutdoWn, frequency adjustment, and frequency that pulsative heating or cooling of the skin can diminish
monitoring may also be accomplished digitally. A computer sympathetic activity. The method may therefore be applied
that runs a simple timing program can be used for the 25 for the control of panic attacks, When these involve an
generation of all sorts of square Waves that can be made abnormally high activity of the sympathetic nervous system.
available at a computer port. An economic and compact In vieW of the plastic nature of the nervous system, the
version of such an arrangement is provided by the Basic application may perhaps also serve as a treatment of the
Stamp [7], Which has an onboard EEPROM that can be disorder.
programmed for the automatic control of the ?uctuating The method of manipulating the nervous sustem by
voltage generated, such as to provide desired on/off times, imparting cooling pulses to the skin may further be applied
frequency schedules, or chaotic Waves. The square Waves to the control of disorders, such as tremors and seiZures, that
can be rounded by RC circuits. and further smoothed by involve pathological oscillations of neural circuits. Such
integration and ?ltering. oscillations are affected by the chemical milieu, Which in
For the embodiments shoWn in FIGS. 1—4, one may use 35 turn can be in?uenced by a sensory resonance. Therefore, by
a generator that produces a complex Wave, such that the 1/2 exciting such a resonance through administration of cooling
HZ autonomic and the 2.4 HZ cortical sensory resonance are pulses to the skin, the pathological oscillations may be
excited together. Such a generator is shoWn schematically in reduced in amplitude or prevented altogether. In vieW of the
FIG. 6. Timers 82 and 83 are arranged to produce square plasticity of the nervous system, the method may perhaps
Waves of frequencies f1 and f2 respectively, Where f1 is near also lend itself as a treatment of these disorders.
2.4 HZ and f2 is near 0.5 HZ. The outputs 84 and 85 of the In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the thin Wires 5 may be seen
timers are connected to the inputs of an AND gate 86. The as a resistor that is in contact With ambient atmospheric air.
output 87 of the AND gate produces a square Wave of In FIG. 10 the resistor has the form of a thin resistive ?lm
frequency f1, amplitude modulated With a square Wave of 45 that is present on an insulating substrate 43. The ?lm 45
frequency f2, as indicated by the Wave train 88. 45 has distributing strips 44 and 46 Which are connected
For the 1/2 HZ autonomic resonance, ptosis of the eyelids respectively to a voltage V+ indicated by 42, and the drain
Was used as an indication that the autonomic nervous system of a ?eld effect transistor 4. The latter is controlled by
is affected. There are tWo Ways in Which this indicator may voltage pulses from the generator 1, labelled
be used. In the ?rst method the subject simply relinguishes “GENERATOR”, Which has a tuning control 6. With this
control over the eyelids, and makes no effort to correct for arrangement, current is passed through the resistive ?lm 45
any drooping. The more sensitive second method requires in pulsative manner, thereby causing the ?lm temperature to
the subject to ?rst close the eyes about half Way. While oscillate. As a result, a Warm air plume 48 develops peri
holding this eyelid position, the subject rolls the eyes odically adjacent to the ?lm 45. The rising plume draWs
upWard, While giving up voluntary control of the eyelids. ambient atmospheric air and thereby causes a pulsative air
With the eyeballs rolled up, ptosis Will decrease the amount 55 How 49 past the face of the nearby subject 11. This air?oW
of light admitted into the eyes, and With full ptosis the light imparts cooling pulses to the skin of the subject. The device
is completely shut off. The second method is very sensitive also induces an acoustic effect similar to the one described
because the pressure excerted on the eyeballs by the partially for the device of FIG. 1.
closed eyelids increases parasympathetic activity. As a result The sensory resonance near 2.4 HZ shoWs up as a con
the eyelid position becomes labile, as evidenced by a slight siderable increase in the time of silently counting backWard
?utter. The labile state is sensitive to small shifts in sym from 100 to 60, as fast as possible, With the eyes closed. The
pathetic and parasympathetic activity. The method Works counting is done With the “silent voice” Which involves
best When the subject is lying ?at on the back and is vieWing motor activation of the larynx appropriate to the numbers to
a blank Wall that is dimly to moderately lit. be uttered, but Without the passage of air, or movement of
Immediately after onset of the 1/2 HZ resonance, the ptosis 65 mouth muscles. Since counting is a cortical process, the 2.4
frequency, de?ned as the frequency for maximum ptosis, HZ resonance may be called a cortical sensory resonance. In
sloWly decreases until a steady frequency is reached in 5 to addition to affecting the silent counting, the 2.4 HZ reso
 6,091,994
9 10
nance is expected to in?uence some other cortical processes as to give the bottom holes 95 free access to the ambient
as Well. It Was found that in the long run the resonance has atmosphere. The resistive Wire 5 is mounted by pins 90
a sleep inducing effect. Very long exposures have caused directly on the circuit board 93. ShoWn also are the tuning
diZZiness in an environment free of 60 or 50 HZ electro control 6 and the LED 7. Although for simplicity only a
magnetic poWer ?elds. single length of resistive Wire 5 is shoWn in FIG. 12, several
Wire lengths hooked up in series are needed to bring the
The effective intensity WindoW for excitation of the 2.4 resistance to about 3139, required by poWer considerations.
HZ resonance With the device of FIG. 1 has been measured
It has been observed that loWer temperature pulse ampli
in exploratory fashion. The distance betWeen the resistive tudes suf?ce for the excitation of sensory resonances When
Wire assembly and the subject’s head Was 50 cm. The the skin area of pulse administration is increased. This
experiment comprised 42 runs for a variety of pulse fre 10 “bulk” effect is important for the proper use of the invention,
quencies and pulse poWers. At the end of each 40-minute run and can be understood as folloWs. The skin temperature
the time for the silent count from 100 to 60 Was measured oscillations cause a frequency modulation of the stochastic
and recorded. The normal counting time for the subject is ?ring of the cutaneous thermoreceptors. If the afferent ?bers
about 31 seconds. Results of the experiment are shoWn in of these receptors synapse, either directly or indirectly, upon
FIG. 9, Where dissipated pulse poWer and pulse frequency of 15
a summing neuron, then the sequence of current injection
each run is shoWn by a circle, the open circles denoting spikes into the dendrite of the neuron Will be a slightly
counting times less than 50 seconds, and ?lled circles modulated Poisson stream. For Zero modulation a Poisson
denoting counting times of at least 50 seconds. Contour 47 distribution is expected on theoretical grounds if the number
separates these tWo sets of runs. The region inside contour of synapsing afferents is large, since the afferent spike trains
47 may be called the footprint for the excitation of the 2.4 add and interlace. This results in a high-frequency sequence
HZ resonance by the device of FIG. 1. Since data points 20 of charge injections, in Which the features of the individual
outside the footprint are sparse, particularly at the loW and afferent spike trains are substantially Washed out, in much
high poWer ends, the experiment must be considered merely the same Way as density nonuniformities of a substance
exploratory. A cross section at ?xed pulse frequency gives suspended in a ?uid are removed by stirring. Whereas the
the effective intensity WindoW of the sensory resonance at
stochastic variations are diminished, the fm variations
caused by the skin temperature oscillation add coherently in
this frequency. The footprint is seen to extend roughly from 25
the hillock potential. As a result, the signal to noise ratio of
5 mW to 1 W of dissipated pulse poWer, and from 2.0 to 2.4 the fm signal increases With the number of afferents affected
HZ in frequency. [1]. This explains the bulk effect and to some extent the
These results need to be compared With exploratory observed sensitivity to very small temperature pulse ampli
experiments on the 2.4 HZ resonance made through large tudes.
skin area exposure to blinking heat lamp radiation discussed 30 The invention is not limited by the embodiments shoWn in
in US. Pat. No. 5,800,481[8]. The latter experiments Were the draWings and described in the speci?cation, Which are
done on the same subject about 2 years and 5 months prior given by Way of example and not of limitation, but only in
to the footprint experiments discussed above. At the time of accordance With the scope of the appended claims.
the earlier experiments We had not yet realiZed that the
larynx stress experienced by the subject in a silent count can REFERENCES
35
in?uence future counting times, and that counts need to be [1] H. G. Loos, “Method and Apparatus for Manipulating
spaced
The data
byshoWn
20 minutes
in FIG.
or 11
so in
of order
ref. [8]to give
curb athis
frequency
effect of Nervous Systems”, US. Pat. No. 5,782,874, Jul. 21, 1998
[2] US. Pat. No. 5,935,054, Aug. 10, 1999
about 2.46 HZ and Width of roughly 0.13 HZ for the
[3] E. R. Kandel, J. H. SchWartZ, and T. M. Jessel, PRIN
resonance peak measured at a poWer density of 2.5
mW/cm2, compared to a frequency of about 2.42 HZ (at the 40 CIPLES OF NEURAL SCIENCE, 3th Edition, Elsevier,
largest silent count measured, but not shoWn in the NY, 1991
footprint), and a Width of roughly 0.30 HZ for the footprint [4] H. Hensel, THERMAL SENSATIONS AND THER
of FIG. 9. The span of the effective intensity WindoW, MORECEPTORS IN MAN, Charles C. Thomas,
de?ned as the ratio of largest to smallest intensity, is much Spring?eld, Ill., 1982
smaller in FIG. 11 of ref. [8] than in the footprint of FIG. 9. 45 [5] A. Longtin and K. HinZer, “Encoding With Bursting,
For the former data the span is roughly 3.5, While it is at least Subthreshold Oscillations, and Noise in Mammalian Cold
160 for the footprint. The resonance frequencies are in good Receptors”, Neural Computation 8, 215, (1996)
agreement. HoWever, the discrepancy in the Widths, particu [6] US. Pat. No. 6,017,302, Jan. 25, 2000
larly in the WindoW spans, is so large as to suggest that [7] Basic Stamp, PARALAX, INC. Rocklin, Calif. 95765
different mechanisms are involved in the tWo experiments. 50 [8] H. G. Loos, “Thermal Excitation of Sensory
Such a difference may perhaps be due to the multiple Resonances”, US. Pat. No. 5,800,481, Sep. 1, 1998
excitation pathWays engaged by the device of FIG. 1; as [9] H. Schlichting, BOUNDARY-LAYER THEORY,
discussed above, these pathWays comprise cutaneous ther McGraW-Hill, NeW York 1968
mal receptor afferents and the vestibular nerve. The multiple I claim:
pathWays may also perhaps cause the difference betWeen the 55 1. Apparatus for manipulating the nervous system of a
slope of the footprint and the much larger shift in resonance subject, comprising:
frequency With poWer density, apparent from FIG. 11 of ref. generator means for generating voltage pulses;
[3] cooling means, responsive to the voltage pulses, for
It can be seen from FIG. 9 that the device of FIG. 1 can
excite the 2.4 HZ resonance at a distance of 50 cm With as
convectively imparting pulsative cooling to the skin of
little as 20 mW pulse poWer. This makes it possible to drive 60 the subject; and
the resistive Wire directly With the generator of FIG. 3, tuning means for tuning the frequency of the voltage
poWered by a 3 volt battery. For 2.5 V pulses and a 313 Q pulses.
resistive Wire the output current is 8 mA and the pulse poWer 2. The apparatus of claim 1, Wherein the cooling means
is 20 mW. This alloWs the compact embodiment of FIG. 12, includes a fan for producing an air jet.
Where the generator 1 and the resistive Wire 5 are mounted 65 3. The apparatus of claim 2, Wherein the air jet has a
in a single small casing 97, Which has ventilation holes 94 momentum ?ux vector, the momentum ?ux vector varying
and 95 respectively at the top and bottom, and feet 96 such in pulsative manner in response to the voltage pulses.
 6,091,994
11 12
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cooling means 9. The method of claim 8, Wherein said producing com
includes a resistor in contact With ambient atmospheric air, prises the steps of:
the resistor having a current and a temperature, the current placing a resistor in contact With ambient atmospheric air;
being responsive to the voltage pulses; subjecting the resistor to voltage pulses;
Whereby the resistor temperature varies in a pulsating Whereby the resistor temperature varies in pulsative
manner, thereby causing a pulsative rising plume of manner, thereby causing a pulsative Warm air plume to
Warm air, the plume draWing ambient atmospheric air, rise over the resistor.
said draWing causing a pulsative air?oW past the skin of 10. A method for manipulating the nervous system of a
the subject; subject, the subject having cutaneous thermoreceptors that
Whereby convective pulsative cooling is imparted to the 10 produce spike trains Which encode skin temperature, the
skin of the subject. spike trains being transmitted to the brain of the subject by
5. The apparatus of claim 4, further including casing afferent nerves, the method comprising the steps of:
means for containing the generating means and the resistor. generating voltage pulses having pulse parameters;
6. The apparatus of claim 1 for exciting in a subject a convectively imparting cooling pulses to the skin of the
sensory resonance having a resonance frequency, Wherein 15 subject, the cooling pulses being responsive to the
the voltage pulses have a frequency and Wherein the voltage voltage pulses;
frequency is set to the resonance frequency. Whereby the cooling pulses cause a pulsative modulation
7. Method for manipulating the nervous system of a of said spike trains, the pulsative modulation giving
subject, comprising the steps of: rise to evoked signals in the brain; and
generating voltage pulses having a frequency; selecting the pulse parameters for rendering the evoked
imparting pulsative cooling to the skin of the subject, by signals appropriate for said manipulation.
convection the pulsative cooling being responsive to 11. The method of claim 10, for controlling in the subject
the voltage pulses; and tremors and seiZures, that involve pathological oscillations
of neural circuits, the oscillations being affected by the
setting the frequency to a value appropriate for excitation 25
chemical milieu of the neural circuits, the chemical milieu
of a sensory resonance.
being in?uenced by a sensory resonance that has a resonance
8. The method of claim 7, Wherein said convection frequency, Wherein said pulse parameters include the fre
comprises the steps of: quency of the pulses, and Wherein said selecting comprises
producing a pulsative Warm air plume, the plume draWing setting the pulse frequency to the resonance frequency.
air from the ambient atmosphere; 12. The method of claim 10, Wherein said imparting is
Whereby said draWing induces an air flow past the skin of initiated When the need for said manipulation is perceived.
the subject, thereby imparting pulsative cooling to the
skin.