What are Binaural Beats?
Binaural beats are talked about frequently and are often misunderstood. They are associated with all kinds of things from simple meditation and their calming properties to pain relief and treatment of addiction to the more mysterious such as lucid dreaming, astral projection and the recovery of repressed memories. The question still stands though, what exactly are binaural beats?
In their most simple form, binaural beats are audio files, typically on CDs or in MP3 form. These audio tracks are beating tracks emitted in stereo so a different beat is presented to each ear. They are most effective (some say only effective) when listened to via headphones. The beats are low frequency tones typically 1000 to 1500 hertz. The two tones have a small difference in frequency which the brain puts together to form a single beating tone. These beats can influence the brain in subtle ways known as entrainment of brainwaves.
Binaural beats are used to induce certain effects. By feeding the brain frequencies it associates with certain effects such as sleep, it can then induce the desired effect. This is where binaural beats medical applications come in. Although not supported on the whole by the medical industry it has been well documented as a method of treatment for sleeping disorders and addictions.
The key things to remember are that binaural beats consist of two audio tracks at slightly different frequencies played together in stereo. The difference in frequency can not be heard. If it is too great we will simply hear the two tracks as two separate tracks. With binaural beats the brain puts the two tracks together to form one beat. This in turn can induce a variety of states of consciousness.
The size of the difference in the frequency between the two tones affects different brain waves. The table below gives you a rough guide of the frequency differences, the brain waves affected, and the states of consciousness these are associated with.
| 40 Hz | Gamma waves | Higher mental activity, including perception, problem solving, fear, and consciousness |
| 13–40 Hz | Beta waves | Active, busy or anxious thinking and active concentration, arousal, cognition |
| 7–13 Hz | Alpha waves | Relaxation (while awake), pre-sleep and pre-wake drowsiness |
| 4–7 Hz | Theta waves | Dreams, deep meditation, REM sleep |
| 4 Hz | Delta waves | Deep dreamless sleep, loss of body awareness |
As you can see the larger differences in frequency are associated with more active states where as the smaller differences relate to more passive states. This seems very logical. The exact boundaries of the frequencies are of course very subjective. Binaural beats typically are most effective when you start with a beat which is as close as possible to your current state, then gradually change it towards the frequency that matches the state of consciousness you wish to achieve. In most cases the brain has to be trained to hear the smaller frequencies.