Researchers in China have come up with an ingenious way to translate brain waves into music. So, if you’ve ever wanted to hear what your brain waves sound like, now you can.

The technology uses a combination of measurements of the brain’s blood flow and electrical impulses. At the start of their research, Scientists used only readings from the brain’s electrical impulses to create tunes but found the resulting music was often disjointed and sounded unpleasant.

Once readings of brain waves have been taken using EEG, head of the project Hu who works at the University of Electronic Science and Technology in Chengdu, China, can then use specialized software which transforms the electrical signals into musical notes. The height of the brain waves determines the pitch of the notes, and the length of the wave determines the notes' duration.

Besides the entertainment value of the technology, there are also more practical applications that the developers are hoping to utilize. The idea behind the research is to help people to learn to control their brain waves which will hopefully then be used to help sufferers of conditions such as depression and anxiety.

It is also hoped that the music can be used in biofeedback therapy, in which patients strive to consciously control brain activity.

{fcomment}