Tracking EEG changes in response to alpha and beta binaural beats

Abstract

A binaural beat can be produced by presenting two tones of differing frequency, one to each ear. Such auditory stimulation has been suggested to influence behaviour and cognition via the process of cortical entrainment. However, research so far has only shown frequency following responses in the traditional EEG frequency ranges of delta, theta and gamma.Hence a primary aim of this research was to ascertain whether it would be possible to produce clear changes in the EEG in either the alpha or beta frequency ranges. Such changes, if possible, would have a number of important implications as well as potential applications.A secondary goal was to track any observable changes in EEG throughout the entrainment epoch to gain some insight into the nature of the entrainment effects any changes in an effort to identify more effective entrainment regimes. Twenty two healthy participants were recruited and randomly allocated to one of two groups, each of which was exposed to a distinct binaural beat frequency for ten 1-minute epochs. The first group listened to an alpha binaural beat of 10Hz and the second to a beta binaural beat of 20Hz. EEG was recorded from the left and right temporal regions during pre-exposure baselines, stimulus exposure epochs and post-exposure baselines. Analysis of changes in broad-band and narrow-band amplitude, and frequency showed no effect of either binaural beat frequency eliciting a frequency following effect in the EEG. Possible mediating factors are discussed and a number of recommendations are made regarding future studies, exploring entrainment effects from binaural beat presentation.3

Analysis of EEG activity in response to binaural beats with different frequencies

“…Our results didn't support the brainwave entrainment effect or FFR hypothesis that the human brain had a tendency to change its dominant EEG frequency under BB stimulations. Different to previous work (Stevens et al, 2003;Wahbeh et al, 2007;Goodin et al, 2012 andVernon et al, 2012), we extended the duration of BB stimulations to 5 minutes with 4 modulation frequencies, which allows us to compare the results between different BBs. However, by tracking the changes of relative power (RP) instead of power, we discovered several interesting phenomena.…”

Brain Responses to a 6-Hz Binaural Beat: Effects on General Theta Rhythm and Frontal Midline Theta Activity

“…Recording of EEG signal at only T3 and T4 positions while delivering 10- and 20-Hz binaural beats on a mean 400 Hz carrier tone to participants for 1 min was conducted. No change in alpha activity was detected in the 10-Hz condition, while the left temporal region expressed a higher amplitude of beta activity than the right side in the 20-Hz condition; however, clear evidence of a frequency following effect did not appear due to the number of recording electrodes (Vernon et al, 2012). A magnetic field study noted that the right temporal region responded to a 40-Hz binaural beat on a 500 Hz carrier tone within 1 s of exposure (Draganova et al, 2008).…”

Reduced pain and analgesic use after acoustic binaural beats therapy in chronic pain ‐ A double‐blind randomized control cross‐over trial

“…Binaural beat perception takes place in the subcortical brain regions of the brainstem and superior olivary nuclei, moving on to the reticular formation (Karino et al, 2006;Smith et al, 1975). Via the process of entrainment, the relative power of the brain electrocortical activity tends to synchronize to the externally applied frequency (Vernon, Peryer, Louch, & Shaw, 2014). Higher function beta (16 and 24 Hz) or gamma (40 Hz) rhythm frequency binaural beats have been used to improve performance in vigilance tasks (Colzato et al, 2017;Hommel et al, 2016;Lane et al, 1998), whereas lower rhythm in the delta/theta range to reduce anxiety (Isik, Esen, Büyükerkmen, Kilinç, & Menziletoglu, 2017;Le Scouarnec et al, 2001).…”