Deep Sleep With Alpha Waves. Relaxing, Makes You Wake Up Feeling Good

Neuroscientists recently made a correlation between an increase of alpha brain waves—either through electrical stimulation or mindfulness and meditation—and the ability to reduce depressive symptoms and increase creative thinking.
Our various states of consciousness are directly connected to the ever-changing electrical, chemical, and architectural environment of the brain. Daily habits of behavior and thought processes have the ability to alter the architecture of brain structure and connectivity, as well as, the neurochemical and electrical neural oscillations of your mind.
In previous Psychology Today blog posts, I’ve written extensively about how neuroplasticity and neurogenesis (growth of new neurons) can alter the architectural connectivity between brain regions and increase brain volume, which directly impacts cognitive function.
I’ve also explored how the “neurochemicals of happiness”—such as endorphins, endocannabinoids, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin—can make us feel good when we do things like exercise and spend time with loved ones by changing the chemical environment of the brain.
In this blog post, I focus on the electrical environment of the brain and recent discoveries on how brain waves fine-tune our consciousness based on new findings that stimulating alpha waves can boost creativity and reduce depression.

Your brain consists of billions of neurons in different regions that use electricity as a way to communicate with one another. When your synapses are firing in synchrony, they create unified combinations of millions of neurons marching in lockstep as a harmonized "neural network" that is linked to a specific state of consciousness, your thoughts, and your mood.
The combination of synchronized electrical activity in the brain is called a "brain wave" because of its cyclic and "wave-like" in nature. Brain waves can be detected using medical equipment, such as electroencephalogram (EEG), which measures the oscillation of electricity levels in different areas on the scalp.

In 1924, a german physiologist and psychiatrist named Hans Berger recorded the first human EEG. Berger also invented the electroencephalogram and gave the device its name. This invention has been described as, "one of the most surprising, remarkable, and momentous developments in the history of clinical neurology."
At the root of all our thoughts, emotions and behaviors is the communication between neurons. Brain waves are produced by synchronized electrical pulses from masses of neurons communicating with each other.