The first EEG recordings of neural entrainment to flicker:
Adrian & Matthews, 1934, The Berger Rhythm: potential changes from the occipital lobes in man
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Approximately 1 in 10,000 people suffer from photosensitive epilepsy, a condition in which an epileptic seizure can be triggered by flickering light.
Do not download the app if you think might be at risk, and do not allow children, or family & friends who might be at risk, to use Strobonaut.
An epileptic seizure is a paroxysmal over-synchronisation of the electrical rhythms of the brain. The synchronising effects of stroboscopic light are beneficial for the great majority of people — mental health issues are associated with a lack of synchronisation in the brain rhythms. However a very small minority of people are hypersensitive to the synchronising effects of stroboscopic light and can be triggered into an epileptic seizure.
The most common precipitating causes of photic seizures are the television set and computer monitor. The majority of adults have therefore been well tested for the condition. Flickering light over the entire range of frequencies is now so frequently encountered in the modern world that, for an adult with no history of sensitivity or a reaction, the risk that they suffer from photosensitive epilepsy is very small indeed. However caution is required with those who in the past have felt nauseated or uncomfortable when exposed to strong flicker, e.g. at discos, clubs. Similarly anyone suffering from any form of epilepsy, or with a history of any form of epilepsy in the family, is likely to be at higher risk.
- The risk is increased if a flicker app is used whilst intoxicated with, or withdrawing from, alcohol or drugs.
- Use of flicker apps is not recommended for anyone aged under 18.
Recently published guidelines can be found here:
There are grounds for believing that people in the modern world are becoming more accustomed to flickering lights and that the risk of photosensitive epilepsy is diminishing.
This reviewer is convinced that there are far fewer patients in the USA in 1993 with a photoconvulsive response of bilateral spike and wave complexes to light flashes, compared to the 3% of all patients with an EEG who showed such a response in the late 1950s. It seems possible that the many examples of flickering lights in our society may be responsible for a partial adaptation to the photic flashes.
EEG in Clinical Practice by John R. Hughes, Professor of Neurology, Director of Clinical Neurophysiology, Director of Epilepsy Clinic, University of Illinois
Of all the many procedures that appear to bring about an equivalent of the naturally occurring hypnagogic state and which, in turn, facilitate the emergence into awareness of visual imagination images, the easiest, safest and potentially most precise in its effects, is photic stimulation (flickering light). Unlike perceptual isolation, hallucinogenic drug intoxication, or sleep onset procedures, photic stimulation does not require a complicated laboratory environment, sophisticated equipment or heavy demands on the time of those taking part.
The effects of photic stimulation and private self-consciousness on the complexity of visual imagination imagery. Professor Alan Richardson, British Journal of Psychology, 1990
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As a safety feature, on most smartphones Strobonaut requires a perfectly horizontal launchpad. The app only opens when the phone is laid flat on a horizontal surface or held horizontally.
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