It's a popular perception among many people that listening to binaural beats has a special effect on the brain.
They think binaural beats can help you follow a diet or stop smoking.
Or they think these sounds can amp you up for a competition or calm you down, or even improve memory recall, focus and concentration.
The question is…
Doesn't listening to any type of relaxing music have a similar effect?
Possibly.
In this post, we'll find out if listening to specific frequencies can have a better impact on your mental prowess than listening to Mozart for Pink Floyd!
What Are Binaural Beats?
The word binaural means "having or relating to two ears."
The process works by sending a slightly different sound frequency to each ear. This has to be done simultaneously and through earphones or headphones.
When two different pure tones are presented separately but simultaneously to each ear of a listener, the listener hears the illusion of a third tone.
This third does "appears" in addition to the two pure-tones presented to each ear. And it is this third tone that is called a binaural beat.
Let's break this down:When you play a 350 Hertz (Hz) tone in the left ear and a 360 Hertz tone in the right, it yields a beat with a frequency of 10 Hertz. This third beat is the binaural beat.
The brain then uses a process known as 'frequency following response' to follow along at the new frequency (10 Hz). This process produces brainwaves at that rate of Hertz.
However, this outcome (apparently) occurs only if the the difference matches the alpha frequency range that lies between 7-11 Hz.
Music or white noise embedded with binaural beats is very often used along with different meditation techniques and positive affirmations to gain varying results.
In the memory training and memory improvement world, some claim you will experience results ranging from improvement in recall, concentration, focus, creativity and alertness.
There is more:
Listening to these beats is also said to provide relaxation, stress reduction, pain management, and improved sleep quality.
Who Heard Them First? A Brief History of Binaural Beats
Binaural beats were first described in 1839 by Prussian scientist H.W. Dove.
However, it was Gerald Oster's article in Scientific American in 1973 that brought this process to modern attention.
According to Oster, the tones needed to produce binaural beats had to be relatively low-frequency and the beats themselves were in the range of one to 30 hertz. This is the range the human brainwave frequencies fall in.
What to know the real story?
Humans have the ability to "hear" binaural beats as a result of evolutionary adaptation.
"Many evolved species can detect binaural beats because of their brain structure. The frequencies at which binaural beats can be detected change depending upon the size of the species' cranium. In the human, binaural beats can be detected when carrier waves are below approximately 1000 Hz." (Oster, 1973)
The Binaural Process In Real Music
Of course, binaural beats in terms of therapy is quite different than the binaural process found in music. This process was apparently invented by Manfred Shunke who used models of the human head created with the help of computer design software.
As music historian Rob Bowman wrote in the notes for Lou Reed's Between Thought and Expression:"The detail was as precise as possible down to the size, shape, and bone structure of the ear and ear canal. Microphones were then designed to fit each ear so, theoretically, what they recorded would be exactly what a human sitting in the position the head was placed would actually hear."
Binaural Beats To Manage Pain:Why TPublished on 7 years, 6 months ago
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