A study of binaural beats effects on the emotional state of healthy adults

Abstract

[eng] Binaural beating is a perceptual auditory illusion occurring when two neighbouring frequencies are presented to each ear separately. Binaural tones have been related controversially to a decrease on the anxiety levels and to an increase on concentration and motivation. Bibliography is not clear about this affirmation, so the purpose of our study was to demonstrate this effect of binaural beats with 31 healthy adults ranging in age from 18 to 30. The participants were exposed to four conditions of seven minutes each one: monaural beat with music, binaural beat with music, monaural beat with no music and binaural beat with no music. The EEG was recorded while they were listening to the stimuli and supplemented with a mood test called EVEA. The results of the EEG data recording show a relaxation in the four stimuli, not only with the binaural beat. There isn’t enough significative difference between stimuli to consider the relaxing effects of binaural sounds. The Evea test’s values neither contribute to affirm our hypothesis. Our results don’t provide a clear result about the binaural tones effects on adults and more studies are necessary to elaborate an appropriated conclusion.