SHOULD I TRY IT? binaural beats
These auditory illusions created by the brain have been linked to a number of benefits, including reduced anxiety and better sleep. All you need is a set of headphones…
Most of us have experienced the mind-bending effects of optical illusions before, but what about auditory ones? Well, in a similar way to how a certain visual pattern might make us see something that isn’t there, an extra sound is created by our brain when we listen to two tones of slightly different frequencies, one in each ear. The third sound our brain creates is the difference in frequency between the two tones - and this is called a binaural beat.
In the past, binaural beats have been relied upon for practical tasks, like tuning musical instruments, but more recently it’s been theorised that they could help support our emotional health by ‘tuning’ our brain towards a particular state of mind. This is thought to work because, as we listen to the tones, our brain patterns adjust to match sound waves at certain frequencies, activating particular areas of brain activity. In order to hear a binaural beat, both sounds must have frequencies of less than 1000Hz, with a difference in tone of 30Hz or less. How they impact your mood or behaviour is believed to depend on which one of four main types of brain waves they help to activate: delta, theta, alpha or beta.