Theta waves are a type of brain wave that occur in the brain during sleep, deep relaxation, and meditation. Recent studies have explored the relationship between brainwaves and external auditory stimuli, raising an intriguing question: Can binaural beats (BB) directly impact our brain's electrical activity?
The core principle behind this phenomenon is the "frequency-following response" (FFR) hypothesis.
This theory posits that the human brain demonstrates a natural inclination to align its dominant frequency with that of an external stimulus, such as auditory input (Wahbeh, Calabrese, & Zwickey, 2007). To illustrate this concept, imagine your brain's dominant frequency is currently 30Hz.
Upon exposure to a 7 Hz binaural beat, your brainwave activity will gradually transition to match the stimulus frequency, ultimately shifting your dominant frequency to 7 Hz.
This dynamic interplay between external auditory inputs and our brain's inherent adaptability offers potential avenues for influencing mental states and fostering enhanced cognitive function through targeted auditory stimulation.
Research indicates that extended exposure to binaural beats (BB) could potentially influence verbal memory recall, with specific frequencies, such as theta waves, demonstrating varying effects on cognitive performance (Garcia-Argibay, Santed & Reales, 2017). However, the extent of improvement is dependent on the frequency employed.
For instance, Wahbeh et al. (2007) discovered that stimulation at 7 Hz for 30 minutes led to a decrease in verbal memory recall.
Conversely, Ortiz et al. (2008) found that binaural beat stimulation at 5 Hz for 15 minutes, administered twice daily over 15 days, resulted in a significant enhancement of memory recall.
These findings suggest that the impact of binaural beats on memory recall is multifaceted and reliant on the specific frequency and duration of exposure.
The application of binaural beats (BB) within the alpha frequency range has been shown to temporarily enhance working memory capacity.
Studies have concluded that such stimulation promotes theta band (4-8 Hz) activity, leading to improved working memory performance (Kraus & Porubanova, 2015; Kalyan & Kaushal, 2016).
In addition, research conducted by Beauchene et al. (2016) demonstrated that exposure to 15Hz binaural beats during a visuospatial working memory task resulted in heightened response accuracy.
These findings collectively suggest that binaural beat stimulation can offer cognitive benefits, particularly in the realm of working memory, by modulating brainwave activity and enhancing task-specific performance.
Findings reveal some effectiveness of binaural beats in reducing the amount of intraoperative anesthesia as well as in reducing patients´ perceived pain (Lewis et al. 2004; Roshani et al., 2019; Zampi, 2016).
The effects of BB on reducing anxiety have been the subject of considerable scientific interest.
In two controlled study in a sample of 100 people that were about to undergo surgery showed that pre-operative anxiety was significantly reduced after BB stimulation compared to no acoustic stimulation at all (Padmanabhan, Hildreth, Laws, 2005).
Similar results were recently reported in a sample of 60 patients presenting to the surgical unit (Roshani et al., 2019).
Scientific findings on positive effects on attention after binaural-beat training appear pretty consistent.
A effect on a sample of ADHD participants (14-62 age range) has been recently reported in a study led by the California State University Stanislaus (Lopez, 2019).
Taken together, current evidence suggests that binaural beats may affect cognition, mood and perceived pain in a passive way.
They also indicate that the direction and the magnitude of the effect could be determined by the BB specific frequency, moment and duration of exposure.
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