The Sleep Shepherd® is unique in that it works with your brain’s natural structure to slow your brain down and help optimize your sleep. This Sleep Shepherd incorporates a biofeedback system and customized binaural beats that help guide you to deep sleep using the natural workings of the brain’s auditory center. Specialized nerves hard-wired in the part of our brain stem called the medial superior olive (MSO) get excited when they are stimulated by signals arriving from our two ears. The rhythmic pulse you ‘hear’ when wearing the Sleep Shepherd® is actually your brain deciphering the difference in frequency between the two tones that are played into either ear.
High frequency brainwaves are present in an awake and alert brain state.
The Sleep Shepherd® monitors brainwaves and guides them to a lower frequency, by emitting finely tuned binaural beats.
The sensors contained within the Sleep Shepherd closely monitor the wearer’s brainwaves and adjust automatically as your brain activity slows. The specialized tones automatically shut off when your brain has reached a sleepy state. However, the Sleep Shepherd continues to monitor your brainwaves and movement throughout the night and is ready to come back on whenever needed. Unlike pharmaceutical approaches, the Sleep Shepherd does not alter your brain’s chemistry and can therefore be worn as often as needed without the risk of chemical dependency.
Although the Sleep Shepherd is the first device of its kind, the basic science behind the device has been proven via EEG testing to entrain brainwaves to a desired frequency. Studies have found that participants exposed to binaural beats in a specific frequency tend to fall asleep faster than control group participants. A statistically significant number of participants also tend to cite an improved sleep quality and motivational state in comparison to their control group counterparts. Below is a small sampling of publications that have drawn these conclusions through rigorous, scientific study.
Effectiveness on Elite Atheletes
Binaural Beats Affect Working Memory Capacity
Binaural beats increase interhemispheric coherence
Binaural Beats Affect Vigilance, Performance, and Mood
Effectss of binaural beats on auditory evoked potentials
The Sleep Shepherd is unique in that it incorporates a biofeedback system that ensures the proper frequency combination of binaural beats is beings administered at any given time. This requires obtaining precise brainwave measurements in real time. The Sleep Shepherd is able to accurately measure brainwaves using technology developed by NeuroSky, Inc. The NeuroSky brainwave measurement technology has been thoroughly tested and measured against the results of a clinical EEG measurement.
Read the full report here