Why The Listening Program?
The Listening Program (TLP) is a music listening method, personalized to improve brain fitness at any age or level of ability.
Used and trusted by hundreds of thousands of people in over 35 countries, TLP is offered through our international network of trained providers. TLP has global effects on the brain, and is commonly used to support changes in a wide range of brain performance areas:
Executive Function
Communication
Auditory Processing
Social & Emotional Function
Stress Response
Motor Coordination
Creativity
You might ask, what is sound brain fitness? Well, sound brain fitness reflects the idea that brain performance can be maintained or improved by engaging in healthy sound practices. This is not unlike the understanding that physical fitness is improved through exercising the body. One such practice is The Listening Program. TLP involves listening to acoustically-modified instrumental music through high-quality headphones, or our Waves multi-sensory audio system to reduce stress, improve focus, self-regulation, learning, memory and more.
TLP can benefit almost anyone, and applications are wide ranging, from rehabilitation, to wellness and peak performance; in settings ranging from schools, hospitals, therapy clinics, and assisted living facilities.
Experience You Can Trust
Advanced Brain Technologies is a brain fitness pioneer. We’ve been researching and developing sound-based cognitive training programs since 1998 applying the more than 70 years of clinical experience of our founder and his family in the field of human brain development. We are advised by a global team of scientists, therapists, engineers, technologists and musicians to fuse advances in neuroscience, psychology, computer innovation, and music effects research.
You’ll Love Listening
We love music and put great effort into creating soundtracks that will not only change your life, but that you’ll want to listen to every day. The more consistently you listen, the more your brain fitness increases. We’re convinced you’ll not only love our soundtracks, but crave more of them, as many of our listeners report.
A Fusion of Art & Science
Our music is our own, not licensed, but recorded and produced by us to the highest audio recording standards using advanced neuroacoustic production processes.We believe in maintaining the beauty of the art while giving it a specific use, to improve your health and mental performance. Our creative and scientific teams strike the balance of high art complemented by sound science.
Personalized Training
We create personalized, adaptive sound brain fitness programs designed to meet each person’s goals, focusing on what matters most to them.
Your provider will work with you to personalize your program targeting specific areas of the brain performance, including; executive function, communication, auditory processing, social & emotional, stress management, motor coordination, and creative expression. Training in these areas can greatly improve all areas of your life leading to better health, increased productivity and more self-confidence.
Listening is Easy!
Get started right away, and access your program anywhere with the convenience of an iPod. There is no learning curve, no task demand, just enjoy your listening for 9 to 60 minutes, depending on your personal protocol.
The Science
The Listening Program has been used by hundreds of thousands of people in over 35 countries and is backed by independent research. Our vision at Links To Learning is to support Advanced Brain Technologies in transforming lives by making sound brain fitness universally attainable.
Scientific evidence shows that the brain has a natural ability to physically change itself and strengthen its neural network in response to your experiences. This is called neuroplasticity, something which
occurs throughout your lifetime.
While the field of neuroscience only validated this concept in the last 20 years, our founder’s family of human development pioneers observed this clinically in the mid twentieth century. Experts in brain injury rehabilitation and child development were among the first to develop brain training exercises to reorganize the brain and improve its performance. This is the foundation that The Listening Program builds on today.
However, not any brain games will or music will do. Brain games are just that, games to entertain.
For music to make meaningful long term changes it should be scientifically created to improve your brain health. When criteria are met and the training is provided with the right frequency, intensity and duration, the brain will improve leading to positive changes throughout your life. The Listening Program is scientifically designed to do just this, change your brain, for the better.
The Music
The Listening Program is the world’s most scientifically advanced music listening therapy, and not only is the music therapeutic and effective, but also enjoyable to listen to. Created by the world’s leading authorities in applied music effects research, The Listening Program is designed to help you.
“Stress less. Listen better. Get your brain sound and fit.”
The brain is musical; neuroscience has proven through functional brain imaging that when we listen to music, virtually the whole brain is involved.
Music listening not only involves the auditory areas of the brain, but also encourages large-scale neural networks including; prefrontal cortex, motor cortex, sensory cortex, auditory cortex, visual cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, amygdala, nucleus accumbens, corpus callosum, autonomic nervous system, vestibular system, and the enteric nervous system. The Listening Program helps conduct the neural symphony, connecting the most ancient parts of the brain to the most advanced.
Nature Reviews: Neuroscience
Musical training for the development of auditory skills.
“The effects of music training in relation to brain plasticity have caused excitement, evident from the popularity of books on this topic amongst scientists and the general public. Neuroscience research has shown that music training leads to changes throughout the auditory system that prime musicians for listening challenges beyond music processing.
This effect of music training suggests that, akin to physical exercise and its impact on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness. Therefore, the role of music in shaping individual development deserves consideration.”
Nina Krause & Bharath Chandrasekaran
Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory
Northwestern University
Psychoacoustics
Psychoacoustics is the psychological study of the human perception of sound. This scientific field informs much of our understanding of the effects of music on our mind, body, brain, and emotions including the four primary building blocks of auditory perception; frequency, amplitude, time and spatial location. The Listening Program is designed to train the brains ability to perceive and process these foundations of auditory perception.
Music That Works
The foundation of The Listening Program is the beautiful music performed by Advanced Brain Technologies’ own award-winning Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble. This world class music is arranged and recorded in High Definition (HD) sound, produced by our international team of experts.
The Listening Program is the only program to offer original recordings at 24-bit 192 kHz HD. This is the higher music recording quality, most comparable to a live performance. It contains more depth, detail, dimension and emotion than other recording methods capturing the detail of the harmonics that give music its sound, color, or “timbre”. This improves the ability to distinguish the sound of each instrument, which affords the listener more opportunity to benefit from The Listening Program.
This music provides the foundation for the advanced neuroacoustic modifications which provide a rich, fulfilling listening experience. These modifications are applied to the original recordings we created for The Listening Program. These increase and emphasize the perception of the natural attributes inherent within the musical structure providing the sound contrast needed to train and improve sound perception for better brain performance.
Frequency Zones
You are touched by sound vibrations at every moment. Certain sounds, provided in the right context, can organize your neural activity, support your health, balance emotions, bring calm, and provide energy to carry you throughout your day.
Your brain mirrors what it perceives, changing in response to its experiences. The Listening Program trains your brain through the experience of listening to modules of specially recorded music, which is acoustically-modified and arranged into frequency zones. These zones are mapped to brain regions which respond to different properties of sound according to the vibratory frequency, just as the keys on a piano are tuned to play different musical notes. This mapping is referred to as tonotopicity.
Four training zones provide music which progresses across the full range of human sounds perception. These are labelled; blue, red, green and orange. Each zone focusses on a different band of sound frequencies which have qualities that individually and collectively contribute to your brain health and performance. Within each zone you progress though different types of training, rated by level. Higher levels of training are presented as you gain listening experience.
The ABC Modular Design
The Listening Program’s proprietary ABC Modular Design guides the listener through multiple levels of sound training each session, enabling you to effectively exercise your brain with the provided “warm up”, “workout”, and “cool down” music phases.
The science of physical training (and practical application) shows that certain approaches are most effective, such as a gradual warm up for muscle groups, followed by weight resistance training, concluded with a steady cool down and stretching. Following a similar model, The Listening Program music is divided into 9 or 15 minute modules. Within these modules, the first phase, “A”, relaxes the listener and prepares the brain for the more intensive stimulation of the “B” phase. The listener is then returned to a focused/relaxed state during the final “C” phase.
Why The ABC Modular Design is Critical
This breakthrough sound design is important because effective stimulation depends on more than carefully selected classical music and neuroacoustic modifications. It also requires the listener’s brain to be prepared to receive the acoustic information. When someone experiences stress or anxiety, as so many of us do, the ear cannot easily discriminate higher frequency sounds. This leads to a decline in attention and auditory processing. Further, research asserts that a listener needs to be relaxed in order for neural feedback from the ear to the brain and back, in order to control and improve the function of the middle ear which we need for protection from noise and in order to listen.
The ABC Modular Design enhances the effect of our specially designed and engineered music preparing the listener, then providing just the right amount of stimulation, then restoring the listener to a state of focused relaxation. With TLP music, improving brain fitness is more than a therapeutic endeavour; it’s a pleasurable, enlightening listening experience that have been proven to be clinically effective. The Listening Program trains the brain to better receive, process, store and utilize the valuable information provided through the varied soundscapes in our lives such as music, language and the environment in which we live.
Spatial Surround
Spatial Surround is a music recording and production process created by Advanced Brain Technologies for The Listening Program. Multi-channel sound is presented to provide music in five individual channels or locations in 360 degree space. We live in a three dimensional world and rely on our auditory system to tell us where our body is in space, and to inform us if our environment is safe.
Spatial Surround was developed to imitate the natural environment to provide more complete listening training. Exclusive to The Listening Program it improves our discrimination of frequency, volume, time and spatial location.
What to Expect
The Listening Program can improve your brain performance with real, lasting changes helping you to enjoy a better life. Listening fits easily into your daily routine. It becomes a healthy habit, something you do as effortlessly as eating breakfast, but with life changing benefits.
All you need to do is put on a pair of high quality headphones or our Waves multi-sensory audio system and enjoy listening to your personalized program of evidence-based music sound tracks for 9 to 30 minutes per session, 5 days a week. A typical program is completed in 20-40 weeks. Most people will benefit from continued use.
Your TLP Provider
Your trained TLP provider will be there with you at every step to serve as your coach, helping you get the most from your listening. They will provide consultation, including; training, monitoring, measuring progress, making schedule adjustments, and providing tips and tools to ensure success. If you are not already working with a TLP provider, we will help you find one that is right for you.
Listener Groups
The Listening Program offers listening training adapted to the needs of each individual. This personalization begins with identifying your listener group; the category that best describes your reason for using The Listening Program at this point in time. Which group describe your motivation for listening? The answer will help you and your provider select the TLP product(s) best suited to your needs.
LEARNING Support for attention, scholastic and study skills
COMMUNICATION Support for listening, language, voice, speech, and communication skills
INTERVENTION Support for therapeutic, rehabilitative, neurodevelopmental, and sensory needs
WELLNESS Support for a healthy life balance of mind, body, emotion and spirit
PERFORMANCE Support for achieving higher states of physical, mental, musical and creative ability
Training Types
Core
Core training begins with a listening program ideally matched to your listener type, to help you reach and sustain your brain performance goals. As you progress, your listening will grow with you, becoming more refined as you attain higher levels of brain fitness. Core programs are offered at foundational, intermediate and experienced levels and include out Spectrum, Achieve, and Level One series.
Specialized
Specialized training is available with series developed to focus on specific needs. These programs can be done individually, or in combination with your Core listening. These include Sleep and inTime.
About The Listening Program
Level One
The most widely used series in The Listening Program® LEVEL ONE is flexible; offering a foundational to experienced level program for improving brain function and mental abilities at any age.
To accommodate individual listener preferences, LEVEL ONE is available in two options: music only, or blended with beautiful sounds of nature. While many prefer to enjoy and focus on the engaging music, others, especially children, will benefit from the added novelty of listening to music and nature sounds together.
Featuring an extensive library of High Definition music recordings performed by the award-winning Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble, LEVEL ONE is offered in Spatial Surround® sound providing a wide variety of listening with a rich tapestry of sound featuring compositions by Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi, and Danzi.
Level One is arranged in four progressive frequency zones, stimulating different brain areas and their related functions during the course of your personalized listening schedule. The training emphasis is well balanced across the zones making LEVEL ONE adaptable for people of all ages, supporting social & emotional function, auditory processing, communication, executive function, creative expression, motor coordination, stress response, self awareness, musicality, and more.
Order your LEVEL ONE listening system on a preloaded iPod nano with your choice of high-quality headphones, or with the Waves™ multi-sensory audio system. LEVEL ONE is available with music only; music blended with nature sounds, or choose the LEVEL ONE Premium system which offers a bundle of both on one iPod. Each LEVEL ONE system comes with a free bonus library of additional music from Advanced Brain Technologies.
Spectrum
Sound is everywhere, it's as much a part of our lives as the air we breathe and the food we eat.
Yet many of us become stressed or uncomfortable with sounds in our own home, school, work, and public places, and aren't even aware of it. Negative sound exposure has a scientifically proven impact on health, sleep, attention, learning, communication, listening and more.
There is an easy and effective solution... The Listening Program® SPECTRUM is a foundational program created for children and adults with sensory sensitivities in need of a therapeutic intervention, and those listening for wellness. SPECTRUM creates a healthy relationship with sound by training the brain with pleasing evidence-based music which can improve sound brain fitness, reduce sensory sensitivities, and help people find comfort and safety in their environment.
Featuring an extensive library of High Definition music recordings performed by the award-winning Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble, SPECTRUM is offered in Spatial Surround® sound providing a wide variety of listening with a rich tapestry of sound featuring compositions by Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi, and Danzi.
Spectrum is arranged in four progressive frequency zones, stimulating different brain areas and their related functions during the course of your personalized listening schedule. The training emphasis is in the lower frequency music of the green zone supporting social & emotional functions, motor coordination, stress response, sensory processing, and more
Achieve
Featuring an extensive library of High Definition music recordings performed by the award-winning Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble, Achieve is offered in Spatial Surround sound providing a wide variety of listening with a rich tapestry of sound featuring compositions by Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi, and Danzi.
inTime
The brain is musical; neuroscience has proven through functional brain imaging that music engages more brain areas than anything else, and rhythm is the most important, fundamental aspect of music.
Your brain health and brain-body connection depend on rhythm.
Children, teens, and adults can engage with the rhythm-based music of inTime to help stimulate rhythm awareness, focus, timing precision and adaptive responses to stress, all of which supply your brain with the highest quality of stimulation it needs for optimal function.
As brain health and the brain-body connection improve, these abilities improve as well. inTime provides a personalized program of listening training and fun movement activities, using body, drum, and voice to help you keep your beat, and flow with the rhythms of daily life.
Created by the experts, inTime is an organic compilation of original compositions, based on a blend of world music with diverse percussion, string, and wind instrumentation, which accents the power of rhythm and sound frequencies. inTime was developed in the course of over 5 years by the multidisciplinary team behind The Listening Program®. The producers are occupational therapist Sheila Allen, composer and musician Nacho Arimany, and author, founder & CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies, Alex Doman.
The world music of inTime is entirely composed and played by Nacho Arimany, who brings his distinctive blending of rhythms and instrumentation, old and new, from cultures and regions across the globe. inTime's signature sound is achieved through masterful emphasis of orchestrated percussive rhythms and specified sound frequencies as the basis for a rich melodic and harmonic structure. Recordings were done in High Definition sound within natural acoustic space to capture the sound and spirit of over 100 instruments; including membranous drums from West Africa and the Middle East, clay drums from Nigeria, South India, and South America, seed instruments from Colombia and Brazil, Malian calebasses, Vietnamese wooden frogs, Peruvian/Flamenco cajons, Tibetan bowls and crotales, Indian bells, and Mexican whistles, along with cymbals, gongs, guitar, charango, harp, piano, body percussion, voice, and much more. Combined, they create the beautiful, powerful, and effective music of inTime.
inTime provides progressive rhythm-based training across four frequency zones, stimulating different brain areas and their related functions during the course of your personalized listening schedule. The training emphasis is well balanced, making inTime adaptable for people of all ages, supporting social & emotional function, auditory processing, communication, executive function, creative expression, motor coordination, stress response, self awareness, musicality, and more.
Order your inTime listening system on a preloaded iPod nano with your choice of high-quality headphones, or the Waves™ multi-sensory audio system. Each inTime system also includes the inTime drum and mallets used as therapeutic tools for the program activities.