It’s possible, though not conclusive, that we need to listen to the beats for longer than two minutes in order to enter that focused state. Beta-frequency beats were found to be more effective than theta/delta ones. Different research based on 30-minute focused tasks suggested that binaural beats can enhance both performance and mood.For example, in one study, subjects who heard binaural beats for two minutes showed no improvement in staying focused on a task.Search for binaural beats and you’ll find dozens of tracks that promise to help you focus during work or study. What are binaural beats doing for your brain? Here are a few ways binaural music is said to supercharge your mind and if the science backs up their claims. If your goal is to be more productive, you might want a binaural beat stimulus that helps you focus, clear your anxiety, or sleep better (because, as we know, sleep is key to productivity). How effective they are may also depend on how you want to use them. To give you an example, age, gender, and even menstrual cycle have all been reported to make a difference in the ability to even perceive binaural beats. Outcomes depend largely on how research is conducted, and on whom. Study results have been mixed, and there’s still a lot about binaural beats that are not known or not well understood. Yeah, we know-not a very satisfying answer (sorry). So the next question is, does it actually work? A binaural beat in the alpha range should help you reach a state of focus or mental flow. If we take the 5 Hz frequency in our example above, listening would send your brain into a theta state where relaxation, meditation, or sleep would be easier to attain. In theory, this means you can enter a different mental state by simply popping on your headphones and hitting “play”. Here’s a quick breakdown of the known brain frequency bands (and a great explanation of them, according to Scientific American):Īfter listening to a binaural beat track for around seven minutes or so, the frequency of your brain waves will reportedly start to synchronize with the frequency of the binaural beat (a process called entrainment). Higher-frequency waves are connected with things like focused attention and problem solving (beta waves) and memory recall and awareness (gamma waves). Mid-frequency waves (alpha) are linked to relaxed focus, low stress, and flow states. Lower frequency waves (delta and theta) occur when you’re asleep or in a deeply relaxed state. Like sounds, your brain waves have different frequencies. It’s about what binaural beats do to your brain waves. So hearing an imaginary sound might be a fun party trick, but what are binaural beats actually used for? Hint: It’s not about having a dance party in your head. But since smartphones and Spotify didn’t exist back then they were, unsurprisingly, not widely used. This phenomenon was actually discovered all the way back in 1839 by a Prussian physicist named Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. Pretty cool, huh? It’s like one of those wild optical illusions but for your ears. That difference of 5 Hz will be heard by you as a third sound-a binaural beat. Let’s say your left ear hears a 200 Hz frequency while the right ear simultaneously hears a 205 Hz frequency. Your brain interprets those two frequencies plus a third one: the mathematical difference between the two. The track will have two tones of different sound frequencies-one tone sent to your left ear, and the other to your right. To experience binaural beats, you need a set of headphones and a specially-designed audio track. The weird (and cool) thing about them is that they’re all in your head.Ĭonfused? Okay, let’s back up for a second and explain what we mean. So what are binaural beats exactly? Binaural beats don’t actually exist in music or audio tracks. The only caveat? The science on this stuff is new, so we’ll do our best to capture what’s out there and also be transparent about what we don’t know yet. Listening to them is said to invoke brain states that help with anxiety, mood, focus, and more.īut do binaural beats actually work? And what does science say? Let’s explore how these sounds are created, what binaural beats are used for, their benefits, how to use binaural beats for your productivity, and my own experiment trying them. Anyone can listen to binaural beats tracks, and many of them are freely available on the internet. You might say that binaural beats are a type of sound therapy. So the title piqued your interest and now you’re wondering: Just what are binaural beats, and what can they do for you?
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