The Effect of Binaural Beats on Visuospatial Working Memory and Cortical Connectivity

Abstract

Binaural beats utilize a phenomenon that occurs within the cortex when two different frequencies are presented separately to each ear. This procedure produces a third phantom binaural beat, whose frequency is equal to the difference of the two presented tones and which can be manipulated for non-invasive brain stimulation. The effects of binaural beats on working memory, the system in control of temporary retention and online organization of thoughts for successful goal directed behavior, have not been well studied. Furthermore, no studies have evaluated the effects of binaural beats on brain connectivity during working memory tasks. In this study, we determined the effects of different acoustic stimulation conditions on participant response accuracy and cortical network topology, as measured by EEG recordings, during a visuospatial working memory task. Three acoustic stimulation control conditions and three binaural beat stimulation conditions were used: None, Pure Tone, Classical Music, 5Hz binaural beats, 10Hz binaural beats, and 15Hz binaural beats. We found that listening to 15Hz binaural beats during a visuospatial working memory task not only increased the response accuracy, but also modified the strengths of the cortical networks during the task. The three auditory control conditions and the 5Hz and 10Hz binaural beats all decreased accuracy. Based on graphical network analyses, the cortical activity during 15Hz binaural beats produced networks characteristic of high information transfer with consistent connection strengths throughout the visuospatial working memory task.

Binaural Beats through the auditory pathway: from brainstem to connectivity patterns

“…For example, gamma oscillations are thought to leverage this slower temporal framing during successive cognitive moments of synchronous assemblies where memory is consolidated (Osipova et al, 2006;Burke et al, 2013;Lisman & Jensen, 2013). We did not investigate cognitive processes directly, but there is evidence that binaural beats impact memory as a function of beat frequency-beta frequencies seems to enhance it (Lane et al, 1998;Kennerly et al, 1994;Beauchene et al, 2016;Gálvez et al, 2018) while theta frequencies have an inconsistent effect (negative in some cases: Garcia-Argibay et al, 2017, Beauchene et al, 2016and positive in others: Ortiz et al, 2008). In our specific experiment, our stimuli failed to modulate mood as self-reported by participants, but these cross-frequency interactions might provide a framework explaining why binaural beats are able to modulate cognitive performance in other reports.…”

Binaural Beats through the Auditory Pathway: From Brainstem to Connectivity Patterns

“…For example, g oscillations are thought to leverage this slower temporal framing during successive cognitive moments of synchronous assemblies where memory is consolidated (Osipova et al, 2006;Burke et al, 2013;Lisman and Jensen, 2013). We did not investigate cognitive processes directly, but there is evidence that binaural beats impact memory as a function of beat frequency, b frequencies seems to enhance it (Kennerly, 1994;Lane et al, 1998;Beauchene et al, 2016;Gálvez et al, 2018) while u frequencies have an inconsistent effect (negative in some cases: Beauchene et al, 2016;Garcia-Argibay et al, 2019b; and positive in others: Ortiz et al, 2008). In our specific experiment, our stimuli failed to modulate mood as self-reported by participants, but these cross-frequency interactions might provide a framework explaining why binaural beats are able to modulate cognitive performance in other reports.…”

The effect of binaural beats on verbal working memory and cortical connectivity

“…A recent study by our group has also shown that 15Hz BB can improve accuracy and strengthen key connections in the cortical networks during a visuospatial working memory task [32]. For a literature review on the effects of binaural beats on cortical activity and working memory, refer to [32]. The objective of this experiment is to determine the effects binaural beats have on the recorded EEG frequency responses and cortical connectivity, using graph theory methods, during a cognition task.…”