Binaural Beats - Music for the Brain?

 

We all love music and seriously what can be better than listening to those soothing beats at the end of a stressful day right? But did you know that these beats , in a particular rhythm can actually be used to reduce stress and anxiety?

Yes! Even Though it is semi-experimental , it has still shown results on many. 

Binaural beats is a form of sound wave  therapy where there are  slightly different frequencies in the Right and Left ear. This is perceived as a single tone by our brain and hence the change in frequencies is what helps the mind to calm down and hence reduces anxiety levels.

It is not too extensive like other therapies but this one can be self practiced.

All one would have to do is to find music with binaural beats and listen to it.

The recommended time of listening to it ranges from 30 minutes - 2 hours. There is no limit on this but it is recommended to at least listen to it for an hour everyday to notice a difference.

The tones for these types of music should preferably be lower than 1000 Hz.

The difference between the frequencies in the two sides should ideally be 10Hz. So, for example if the right side has a frequency of 300 Hz , the left side should have a frequency of 310 Hz.

Even in this, there are 5 different patterns of music. Each slightly different from another and can be used to obtain different results.

1. Delta pattern -  healing and meditation

2. Theta pattern - dreaming , memory formation, alertness and creativity

3. Alpha pattern - working memory, calculations and coordination of thoughts

4. Beta pattern -  excitement, judgement, anxiety , and

5. Gamma pattern -  consciousness, spirituality and self awareness

These beats are generally very helpful to people with anxiety and jitteriness. These beats are usually picked carefully based on the requirements and are usually merged with some subtle music to go deeper into the brain.

These beats are known to help with   improved brain health in regular listeners such as improved memory , better focus and an all together feeling of content.

However just like other  theories , this one  is highly debated upon. There are many who think of these beats to be “Just Music” with nothing special to it. When we think about it , it also does seem like how can just listening to some special music help with the brain? 

It is Just similar to the way a person's mood changes with use of different colours , certain types of music help the brain muscles to relax and be ready for the upcoming task.

Just think about it this way , when you really want to focus on something, and you play slow songs or lullabies , it definitely makes you feel sleepy right ? In the same way ,  when you are about to sleep and listen to Heavy metal , you definitely feel a surge of energy. 

Most students also use music while studying and have agreed that this helps improve their focus. In that case binaural beats would be more efficient than regular music as it is a series of beats without lyrics or different tones ,that would otherwise cause distraction in some vases.

So , here we can definitely see that some people are more responsive to Binaural beats than others. This Is similar to how some people learn effectively with words and others learn better with pictures. 

Binaural” means “relating to both ears.

As hard as it is to believe, the beats you listen to aren't beats at all so the binaural beats that you listen to are actually a series of vibrations and tones which is perceived into the brain together as a single beat!

So, with all this information , I thought of giving it a try and also made a few friends in my close circle tell me how this affects their mood by only listening to 10 mins of this music  and do they feel a change after listening and these are the responses i received:

1. They felt calm and relaxed after listening to this.

2. They felt sleepy 

3. They felt that if they would listen to this longer , it would definitely change their overall mood.

Here's what I felt when I listened to it:

1. These beats have a subtle music background and mainly have vibrations which make you feel slightly tingly in your mind. 

2. Overtime , listening to this for about 20 mins improved my focus on my next task.

3. The only drawback I felt was that I couldn't listen to it while focusing on other tasks simultaneously.

Conclusion

PRO’S	CON’S
Helps in calming anxiety and jitteriness in stressful situations.	Cannot focus on other important tasks (i.e. driving ) while listening to it.
Helps with improving mood in only 10-15mins. And can help with overall brain health.	2. Increased anxiety in some people, confusion and distraction
Available online for free and is hence very affordable.	3. A slight rise in drowsiness

So, these beats can be very effective if you are trying to sleep or calm down your anxiety but as we know , no two people are the same and hence it may not be perfect for everyone. However, this  is not an alternative to medicinal procedures and shouldn't be used in place of other treatments.

But on a good note , what's the harm in listening to these beats for a little brain development and calming your mood right? 

So go ahead and pick a few beats based on what you want to achieve and try it out for yourself and see what works best for YOU!