Two thoughts /No thought

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Because of alpha waves' connection with relaxed mental states, increase in alpha wave activity is a desirable outcome for some types of biofeedback training. EEG can be used to provide the subject with feedback when alpha waves increase, enabling some individuals to consciously increase alpha wave activity.

There are several different prospects of this training that are currently being explored. Arguably, the most popular one is the use of this training in meditation. Zen-trained meditation masters produce noticeably more alpha waves during meditation. This fact has led to a popular trend of biofeedback training programs for everyday stress relief.[11]

Psychologists are hoping to use this technique to help people overcome phobias, calm down hyperactive children, and help children with stuttering problems to relax enough to practice regular speech.

There are other uses of biofeedback training beyond therapy. Defense Department researchers are exploring biofeedback as a way of getting captured soldiers to create alpha waves, potentially foiling enemy lie detectors. Biofeedback training has also been receiving attention as a possible way of monitoring attention. It has been theorized that teaching machines could use biofeedback as a way of monitoring children's attention, with the appearance of alpha waves signaling a lapse of attention.[12]

Following this lapse-of-attention line of thought, a recent study indicates that alpha waves may be used to predict mistakes. In it, MEGs measured increases of up to 25% in alpha brain wave activity before mistakes occurred. This study used common sense: alpha waves indicate idleness, and mistakes are often made when a person is doing something automatically, or "on auto-pilot", and not paying attention to the task they are performing. After the mistake was noticed by the subject, there was a decrease in alpha waves as the subject began paying more attention. This study hopes to promote the use of wireless EEG technology on employees in high-risk fields, such as air traffic controlling, to monitor alpha wave activity and gauge the attention level of the employee.[13]

this may be similar to what you were saying about being in the zone or sometimes being out of the zone and needing to get off auto pilot