Sound and Music Therapy Benefits

---

 Do Binaural Beats Have Health Benefits? 

Listening to audio with binaural beats may benefit your mental health and promote creativity and focus.

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.

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 are considered auditory illusions. For a binaural beat to work, the two tones have to have frequencies less than 1000 HzTrusted Source,  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. 

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. 

Binaural beats are claimed to induce the same mental state associated with a meditation practice, but much more quickly. 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

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. 

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.

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 HzTrusted Source, 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. In general:

• Binaural beats in the delta (1 to 4 Hz) range have been associatedTrusted Source with deep sleep and relaxation.
• Binaural beats in the theta (4 to 8 Hz) range are linkedTrusted Source to REM sleep, reduced anxiety, relaxation, as well as meditative and creative states.
• Binaural beats in the alpha frequencies (8 to 13 Hz) are thoughtTrusted Source to encourage relaxation, promote positivity, and decrease anxiety.
• Binaural beats in the beta frequencies (14 to 30 Hz) have been linkedTrusted Source 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 studyTrusted Source.

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.

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 studyTrusted Source 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 trialTrusted Source 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 studiesTrusted Source 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.

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 decibelsTrusted Source 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.

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

Learning  to meditate isn’t always easy. Binaural beats won’t work for everyone,  and they aren’t considered a cure for any particular condition. 

However,  they might offer an auditory escape for those interested in relaxing,  sleeping more peacefully, or entering a meditative state.

Article from https://www.healthline.com/health/binaural-beats

Written By

Jacquelyn Cafasso

Edited By

John Bassham

Medically Reviewed By

Nicole Washington, DO, MPH

Copy Edited By

Copy Editors