The Potential Benefits of Binaural Beats: A Comprehensive Overview
Listening to audio with binaural beats may benefit your mental health and promote creativity and focus. Binaural beats are claimed to induce the same mental state associated with a meditation practice, but much more quickly. Meditation is the practice of calming the mind and tuning down the number of random thoughts that pass through it.
A regular meditation practice has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, slow down the rate of brain aging and memory loss, promote mental health, and lengthen attention span. Practicing meditation regularly can be quite difficult, so people have looked to technology for help.
What are Binaural Beats?
When you hear two tones - one in each ear - that are slightly different in frequency, your brain processes a beat at the difference of the frequencies. This is called a binaural beat. Binaural beats are considered auditory illusions. For a binaural beat to work, the two tones have to have frequencies less than 1000 Hz, and the difference between the two tones can’t be more than 30 Hz. The tones also have to be listened to separately, one through each ear.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say you’re listening to a sound in your left ear that’s at a frequency of 132 Hertz (Hz). And in your right ear, you’re listening to a sound that’s at a frequency of 121 Hz. Your brain, however, gradually falls into synchrony with the difference - or 11 Hz. Instead of hearing two different tones, you instead hear a tone at 11 Hz (in addition to the two tones given to each ear).
Binaural beats have been explored in music and are sometimes used to help tune instruments, such as pianos and organs. More recently, they have been connected to potential health benefits.
How Binaural Beats Work
Binaural beats between 1 and 30 Hz are alleged to create the same brain wave pattern that one would experience during meditation. When you listen to a sound with a certain frequency, your brain waves will synchronize with that frequency. The theory is that binaural beats can help create the frequency needed for your brain to create the same waves commonly experienced during a meditation practice. The use of binaural beats in this way is sometimes called brain wave entrainment technology.
Potential Benefits
In effect, binaural beats are said to:
- reduce anxiety
- increase focus and concentration
- lower stress
- increase relaxation
- foster positive moods
- promote creativity
- help manage pain
Experimenting with Binaural Beats
All you need to experiment with binaural beats is a binaural beat audio and a pair of headphones or earbuds. You can easily find audio files of binaural beats online, such as on YouTube or via downloaded audio files to your mp3 player or mobile device. As mentioned earlier, for a binaural beat to work, the two tones have to have frequencies of less than 1000 Hz, and the difference between the two tones can’t be more than 30 Hz. You can also decide which brain wave fits your desired state.
Binaural Beat Frequencies and Their Associated States
In general:
- Delta (1 to 4 Hz):Binaural beats in the delta range have been associated with deep sleep and relaxation.
- Theta (4 to 8 Hz): Binaural beats in the theta range are linked to REM sleep, reduced anxiety, relaxation, as well as meditative and creative states.
- Alpha (8 to 13 Hz): Binaural beats in the alpha frequencies are thought to encourage relaxation, promote positivity, and decrease anxiety.
- Beta (14 to 30 Hz): Binaural beats in the beta frequencies have been linked to increased concentration and alertness, problem-solving, and improved memory.
- Binaural beats of 40 Hz were found to be helpful in enhancing training and learning, according to a 2020 study.
When listening to binaural beats, it’s best to sit in a comfortable place free of distractions. Listening to the binaural beat audio for at least 30 minutes each day in your headphones ensures that the rhythm is entrained (has fallen into synchronization) throughout the brain. You can experiment with the length of time you listen to the binaural beats to find out what works for you. For example, if you’re experiencing high levels of anxiety or stress, you may want to listen to the audio for a full hour or longer. Remember, you must use headphones for binaural beats to work. You may also want to listen with your eyes closed.
Research on the Effects of Binaural Beats
While most studies on the effects of binaural beats have been small, there are several that provide evidence that this auditory illusion does indeed have health benefits, especially related to anxiety, mood, and performance.
- An older 2005 controlled study in roughly 100 people about to undergo surgery also found that binaural beats were able to significantly reduce pre-operative anxiety compared to similar audio without the binaural tones and no audio at all. In the study, anxiety levels were cut in half for people who listened to the binaural beat audio.
- A 2007 uncontrolled study asked eight adults to listen to a binaural beat CD with delta (1 to 4 Hz) beat frequencies for 60 days straight. The results of the study found that listening to binaural beats for 60 days significantly reduced anxiety and increased the overall quality of life of these participants. Since the study was small, uncontrolled, and relied on patient surveys to collect data, larger studies will be needed to confirm these effects.
- One larger 2011 randomized and controlled trial looked at the use of binaural beats in 291 patients admitted to the emergency department at a hospital. The researchers observed significant decreases in anxiety levels in patients exposed to audio with embedded binaural beats compared to those who listened to audio without binaural beats or no audio at all.
- A 2019 study combined the effects of binaural beats and autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), a phenomenon of a relaxation response to certain audio or visual triggers. It was suggested that the combination of the two were more beneficial than either separately.
However, a 2015 review of studies found that most studies in this area are limited or contradictory, and that there’s evidence of diminishing impact over time. More research is needed to fully understand the potential benefits and how they differ from monaural beats.
Safety and Precautions
There are no known side effects to listening to binaural beats, but you’ll want to make sure that the sound level coming through your headphones isn’t set too high.
Prolonged exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss over time. This is roughly the level of noise produced by heavy traffic. Binaural beat technology could be a problem if you have epilepsy, so you should speak with your doctor before trying it. More research is needed to see if there are any side effects to listening to binaural beats over a long period of time.
Potential Benefits Backed by Research
With several human studies to back up the health claims, binaural beats appear to be a potential tool in the fight against anxiety, stress, and negative mental states. Research has found that listening daily to audio with binaural beats may have positive effects on:
- anxiety
- memory
- mood
- creativity
- attention
Digital Drugs and Binaural Beats: An Overview
Binaural beats have been referred to as digital drugs in many studies. Digital drugs, also known as binaural beats, are auditory illusions created by listening to two tons of slightly different frequencies, one in each ear. This creates the perception of a third tone and a beat, which is claimed to alter the listener's brain waves and induce specific cognitive or emotional states.
However, it is important to note that binaural beats do not contain any actual drugs or psychoactive substances. The development of digital drugs could be crucial to humanity's future, making it essential to conduct further study in this area.
Binaural Beats and Memory Functions
Memory functions are linked to fluctuations in brain electrical activity, specifically in theta, alpha, and gamma frequencies, which can impact different aspects of memory. Generally, when binaural beats are stimulated for 5-30 minutes, they attract brain waves to the frequency of the beats. High frequencies of binaural beats, like beta and gamma, can help improve memory and concentration, respectively, which can be related to various brain states in these frequencies, such as deep sleep (delta) or fatigue (theta).
Binaural beats have been found to enhance working memory, an essential function of the central nervous system that temporarily stores information during cognitive activities, such as reading, comprehension, and learning. Neuromodulation research has focused on the potential of working memory to improve cognitive and behavioral outcomes.
Effects on Cognition
The mental action or process of learning through experience, thought, and the senses is known as cognition. It includes all facets of cognitive abilities, including perception, attention, thought, imagination, intelligence, knowledge formation, memory and working memory, judgment and evaluation, reasoning and computation, problem-solving and decision-making, comprehension, and language production. Various studies have investigated the effect of binaural beats on cognition.
Binaural Beats and Psychiatric Disorders
In a randomized controlled trial study on patients with mild to moderate acute phase of depression, it was found that listening to binaural beats with an alpha frequency of 10 Hz for 30 minutes every day for 5 days significantly reduced depression scores. Binaural beats can cause changes in the electrical activity of the brain cortex. By increasing alpha power in the occipital region and increasing gamma in the prefrontal region, they can have therapeutic effects on cortical activity and depression improvement.
Binaural Beats for Anxiety
A class of extremely common mental health issues known as anxiety disorders can have a crippling effect on everyday functioning and general well-being. Binaural beats can even be used to reduce anxiety in certain situations (such as preoperative). It has been shown in a study that binaural beats and 432 Hz music can both be effective in reducing preoperative anxiety.
Binaural Beats for Sleep
Sleep is crucial for one's health and well-being. According to a preliminary study, binaural beats may improve sleep quality. In a study, binaural beats with a 3 Hz delta frequency were used to produce delta activity in the brain. Binaural beats lengthened stage three sleep as a result. For feeling fresh in the morning, stage three sleep must be deep. The potential benefits of binaural beats in promoting improved sleep have been shown by other small research studies.
Impact on Brain Activity
The electrical activity of neurons in the brain produces a small voltage signal on the surface of the skin, known as Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals or electrical brain waves. There are four dominant frequency bands of brain waves, each related to distinct brain functions. Theta waves are linked to memory and dreaming, while alpha waves are linked to a state of alertness and calmness.
The binaural beats alter the brain's excitability and can be measured with EEG. Listening to binaural beats with a frequency of 10 Hz can increase delta brain waves in both hemispheres. Since delta waves are linked to deep sleep, it can be concluded that binaural beats have similar effects as meditation, even though people are awake during testing and it is difficult to accurately measure the delta wave that is dominant in deep sleep.
Home-Use Binaural Beats Brain Stimulation
An incredibly widespread brain hacking tool is auditory brain stimulation, in particular binaural beats brain stimulation. In this case, a simple computer and a basic program for sound processing are sufficient to build a modulator. What is more, an audio file for brain stimulation can be placed on the Internet, e.g., on audio/video sharing platforms.
In order to stimulate, a headset connected to a smartphone or computer will suffice. On the web, there are numerous guidelines on how to use them at home in order to support the process of learning (e.g., when preparing for an exam), solve problems (e.g., when working from home) or carry out other cognitive tasks. They suggest that these activities should be carried out every day while listening to accurately selected binaural beats, which is why the recordings available on the Internet are very long (from several dozen minutes to a dozen hours).
There is thus a question of whether home-use binaural beats brain stimulation is safe, as well as whether it is effective at all. Nevertheless, the research results do not conclusively resolve whether binaural beats have a function that truly modulates brain activity, much less whether they have the potential to enhance cognitive processes.
However, it has been suggested that frequent, prolonged and high-volume use of binaural beats may be detrimental to hearing and mental health. Furthermore, the systematic use of binaural beats in order to improve cognitive processes (or relaxation, for example with the use of the so-called marijuana binaural beats) bears the risk of stimulations becoming a form of digital drugs or-as is already the case with tDCS-brain doping.