Binaural Beat Effect on Brainwaves, Stress Management and Its Applications

Abstract

The brain is made up of billions of brain cells called neurons, which communicate with each other via electric impulses. Neurochemical processes in human brain are measured by wave function which is nothing but Brain Waves. These waves can be detected by a sensitive machine called electroencephalograph (EEG) machine, which are indirect means of assessing the mind consciousness. These are categorized into four frequency band depending upon consciousness levels. The frequency band include; beta, alpha, theta, and delta waves, which depends on activeness of mind. These waves are the outcome of binaural beat phenomenon which is the auditory brainstem where responses originates in the superior Olivary nucleus of each hemisphere. This technique can also be applied to brainwave entrainment, where binaural beat can be changed through audio binaural beat resonant entrainment techniques by applying sonic frequency through stereo headphone. The experiment to verify the effect of binaural beats on brainwaves was carried out with the following apparatus: An Electroencephalogram Machine (Phoenix Digital EEG Machine), Binaural Beat Audio (10Hz), Stereo headphones. Binaural beat was used to entrain the brainwaves of 10 human subjects for 30 minutes using the electroencephalogram (Phoenix Digital EEG) machine to monitor the changes in brainwaves. The entrained brainwaves were recorded at every 10 minute interval for each subject under study. The data provides evidence that all subjects experienced some level of relaxation as evidenced in the significant change in their brainwaves from low beta (13 Hz) to high theta (7 Hz) and even as low as 6 Hz in one subject. Base on this work, one can deduced, binaural beats could be used to entrain brainwaves, and could be applied to stress management by inducing relaxation through reduction in the brainwaves.