Abstract: In man, autonomic and cortical resonances of the nervous system can be excited by inducing subliminal heat pulses in the skin by means of a resistive heat patch, laser, heat lamp, or microwave radiation, or through a slow air jet that carries a small periodic fluctuation in temperature. Deeply subliminal skin temperature oscillations of frequency near 1/2 Hz induced in a subject by any of these means cause sleepiness, drowziness, relaxation, a tonic smile, ptosis of the eyelids, a tense feeling, sudden loose stool, or sexual excitement, depending on the precise pulse frequency used. For certain higher frequencies, the induced subliminal skin temperature oscillations cause fractured thought and a slowing of certain cortical processes. The method and apparatus can be used by the general public as an aid to relaxation, sleep, or arousal, and clinically for the control and perhaps treatment of tremors, seizures, and emotional disorders.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for manipulating the nervous system by imparting subliminal pulsative cooling to the subject's skin at a frequency that is suitable for the excitation of a sensory resonance. At present, two major sensory resonances are known, with frequencies near 1/2 Hz and 2.4 Hz. The 1/2 Hz sensory resonance causes relaxation, sleepiness, ptosis of the eyelids, a tonic smile, a "knot" in the stomach, or sexual excitement, depending on the precise frequency used. The 2.4 Hz resonance causes the slowing of certain cortical activities, and is characterized by a large increase of the time needed to silently count backward from 100 to 60, with the eyes closed. The invention can be used by the general public for inducing relaxation, sleep, or sexual excitement, and clinically for the control and perhaps a treatment of tremors, seizures, and autonomic system disorders such as panic attacks.