Binaural beats may weaken cognitive performance, finds study
What's the story
A recent study suggests that binaural beats, believed to boost cognitive performance, may actually weaken it.
The study involved 920 Polish adults who listened to binaural beats, a pure tone, classical music, or no sound while finishing online tasks that required abstract reasoning, active concentration, and working memory.
Surprisingly, binaural beats worsened participants' cognitive performance compared to their baseline scores.
Details
Study challenges belief that binaural beats boost cognitive activities
Binaural beats are tonal sounds played through headphones, with each ear hearing slightly different frequencies.
The brain is thought to register this difference and produce the desired brain wave frequency.
The study aimed to test their effects in realistic settings by having participants complete tasks at home. However, the results challenge the popular belief that binaural beats can enhance focus, learning, and cognitive abilities.
Implications
More research is needed to understand the effects
Possible reasons why binaural beats have negative impact on cognitive performance is because they interfere with brain waves—causing a mismatch between brain activity and the task.
Another possibility is modulating one brain-wave frequency might disrupt normal brain processes, which require various frequencies for cognitive tasks.
Further research is needed to understand the effects of binaural beats and their implications when used as study tools.