"Some research, but not all, have reported that binaural beats can be used to entrain brain waves to the frequency of the perceived tone." "So in theory, you could use binaural beats to try to induce different brain states when you want to focus or meditate," he says. So binaural beats are a result of a more central brain processing function that seems to be trying to localise sound in the environment." OK, and that does what, exactly?įord says brain frequencies generally look something like this: "These neurons fire action potentials at a rate corresponding to the phase difference between both ears and that is what appears to generate the binaural-beat. Binaural sounds “appear to be 'heard' via brainstem neurons in the superior olivary nuclei (SOC) which are sensitive to phase shifts between both ears," says Ford. To put it another way, normal sounds are detected by the cochlear, and relayed to the brainstem and auditory cortex. For example, if a 400 Hz tone is presented to the left ear and a 440 Hz tone to the right, a beat of 40 Hz is perceived by the brain."
The pitch of the perceived tone will correlate to the difference between the two original tones. "The listener will perceive a third tone, the binaural beat, which is generated 'inside' the listener's head. "Basically, a binaural beat is an auditory illusion that occurs when you present tones of two different frequencies, generally lower than 1000hz, to a listener, one sound in each ear," says Dan Ford, a Behavioural Sleep Psychologist with The Better Sleep Clinic. The confusion this creates will cause your mind to "hear" a sound that isn't really there. On a basic level, binaural beats work when you put on headphones and listen to an audio source that will send two different frequencies of sound to each ear.
Last year was a watershed moment for binaural beats, as podcasts, smartphone applications, and YouTube channels designed to get you to chill out began proliferating across the internet.īut how exactly do binaural beats work, and are they effective? We reached out to experts to find out. In case you are unfamiliar, binaural beats are an auditory illusion designed to alter a listener’s mental state. While some people have been sticking to tried and true methods like melatonin and warm milk to get more shuteye, others have been trying more advanced methods such as binaural beats. Have you been having a hard time getting to sleep lately? Well, you're hardly alone, as insomnia and anxiety have, understandably, been on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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