Are There Health Benefits to Listening to Binaural Beats?
If the otherworldly, soothing tones of binaural beats have been popping up in your “listen to next” feed, you might be wondering what these mysterious beats are and why they’re taking over the internet. It’s not a new phenomenon—a scientist discovered them in the 1800s—but a quick search for binaural beats online uncovers hundreds of YouTube videos claiming to help with everything from anxiety to sleep issues.
Some researchers are going so far as to call them “digital drugs,” because some people claim these sounds make them feel high (though a further look into the study shows that people who are looking for psychoactive effects from binaural beats are, in fact, also using psychedelics).1 But the question remains: Does this form of music therapy benefit your health in any way? Here, experts break down how binaural beats work and their potential to calm your mind, and more.
What are binaural beats and how do they work?
When you listen to binaural beats, your left and right ear receive slightly different frequencies of sound, according to a 2020 study published in the journal eNeuro.2 For example, the right ear might be exposed to a frequency of 310 Hz, while the left ear is exposed to a frequency of 320 Hz. The difference between the two frequencies (in this example, 10 Hz) is known as the binaural beat—a third frequency that only your unconscious brain registers. It’ll sound like a tone that gets softer and louder throughout the track.
The theory is that this “beat” can produce a range of effects from deep relaxation to greater alertness, depending on the frequency. For a calming effect, a range of 8 to 13 Hz is best. Neuroscientists refer to it as the “alpha range” of brainwaves, and electroencephalograms (EEGs), which detect electrical activity in your brain, show that these brain waves dominate whenever people are resting with their eyes closed, according to a 2019 study published in eNeuro.3
Can binaural beats actually help with anxiety and other mental health issues?
When it comes to the efficacy of binaural beats for anxiety, the research is mixed. “The main problem with the studies is there is big variability in the binaural beats used—different frequencies and volumes, for instance—and in how long participants listened to them,” Miguel Garcia-Argibay, PhD, a psychologist and researcher at the Orebro University School of Medical Sciences in Sweden, tells SELF. That said, a 2019 review of over 20 studies on binaural beats, led by Dr. Garcia-Argibay and published in the journal Psychology Research, showed that binaural beats exposure has a significant effect on memory, attention, and anxiety, with longer listening sessions (at least 10 minutes) having the most benefit.4
There is research to suggest that binaural beats may have some kind of attention-focusing effect. A 2017 study published in the journal Psychological Research found that high-frequency binaural beats, specifically Gamma-frequency beats (between 30 and 100 Hz), may increase your ability to focus on something specific.5
Source: SELF
