Study: People are trying to change their minds with binaural beats

Scientists from Australia have published the results of a study of the phenomenon of binaural beats, which people use to change consciousness and other effects. The scientific article was published in the Drug and Alcohol Review.

According to the adherents of this method, to “hack the brain” with the help of sound, you only need headphones and the Internet. According to the authors of the study, the effect occurs "when two tones are applied separately to each ear, slightly different in frequency." As a result, a modulating dyad at a frequency equal to the pitch difference can be heard, which stimulates brain waves and produces cognitive and psychic effects.

The idea itself is not new: similar sounds can be found on YouTube, Spotify and other sites, many of them posted several years ago. The authors even divide the rhythms according to their purpose: for sleep, for work, for weight loss and more.

Supposedly, this technique can be used to trigger delta or theta brain wave states that are associated with dreaming and meditation. The article notes: “Studies examining binaural beats have found positive effects on pain relief,

anxiety reduction and memory improvement. However, there have been conflicting data on its effect on concentration.”

After reviewing over 30,000 responses from participants in the 2021 Global Drug Survey, the authors of the study found that 5.3% respondents have ever listened to binaural beats, most of them are residents of the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Romania and Great Britain. Nearly three-quarters of them reported using the technique to relax or fall asleep, while 34.7% said they wanted to change their mood, and 11.7% hoped to use sound to reproduce the effects of psychotropic substances.

Over half of binaural listeners said they sought to "connect with themselves" and 22.5% sought to connect with "something bigger than themselves." Some respondents also stated that they used sounds to make it easier to enter into a state of awareness. dreams, astral projection and other out-of-body experiences, as well as enhance the effect of psychedelic substances.

Have you ever been interested in binaural beats?