
And as trendy as they are, the scientific community has known about them since the 1800s.īinaural beats, simply put, are an illusion. But much like everything else in the wellness world, there’s just not 100 percent consensus on how well they work or if they work at all. While the author agrees that it did improve concentration, it also induced anxiety.If listening to ethereal, almost otherworldly, sounds for a few minutes every day while you study and work could make your brain more creative and less prone to anxiety, wouldn’t we all do it? One such concept, binaural beats, has been touted by some to be a bit of a magic cure for handling stress. This article was written while using an app called Brainwaves. Maybe a drug doesn’t have to be a substance you consume, it could be to do with how an activity affects your brain.” “We’re starting to see digital experiences defined as drugs, but they could also be seen as complementary practices alongside drug use. We had anecdotal information, but this was the first time we formally asked people how, why and when they’re using them.”īarratt also said that these apps challenge the definition of a drug. This survey shows this is going on in multiple countries. “It’s very new, we just don’t know much about the use of binaural beats as digital drugs. “Most respondents sought to connect with themselves or something bigger than themselves through the experience,” said Barratt. YouTube and Vimeo were the most popular way to listen, followed by Spotify, according to those surveyed. The audio tracks on the apps are often named to attract the people using drugs, for example, offerings include tracks named MDMA and cannabis. Many people saw them as a source of help, such as for sleep therapy or pain relief.”

“Much like ingestible substances, some binaural beats users were chasing a high. It was the younger people surveyed that were most interested in this.ĭr Monica Barratt of RMIT University in Melbourne is the study’s lead author who said the motivation to use binaural beats like this was more commonly reported among those who used psychedelics. But the interesting part is that 12% said they were trying to get a similar effect to psychedelic drugs. In another quirky study, researchers in Melbourne decided to delve into the claim that listening to binaural beats can evoke psychoactive effects.Ī study published in Drug and Alcohol Review gleaned data from the Global Drug Survey that found respondents used binaural beats to relax or go to sleep (72%) and to change their mood (35%). Binaural beats are being used as digital drugs Hustle culture seems to have a new arrow in its quiver with this news. In other words, listening to these sounds while trying to work or study can increase concentration in some circumstances.

“We found that both beta and gamma binaural beats yielded better performance, compared to the baseline, especially for syntactically more complex object-relative sentences.” The researchers said binaural beats have been shown to modulate various cognitive and psychological states. Researchers Hyun-Woong Kim, Jenna Happe and Yune Sang Lee found that beta and gamma binaural beats do actually enhance auditory sentence comprehension. While enthusiasts claim that binaural beats have various effects on the brain and body, including improved cognitive performance, the scientific evidence supporting these claims has always been mixed.īut this week a new study dropped that supports the idea that binaural beats apps can actually make a difference. Some of these apps include Atmosphere, Brain Waves, Binaural Beats Therapy and BrainAural. Some apps even offer beats for greater creativity. While the introduction of binaural beats isn’t new, there’s a renewed interest in the hack likely due to the rise of “hustle culture,” where people look for healthy ways to increase performance.Ī binaural beats app typically lets users choose the sound range they want, or they offer pre-set sound mixes depending on what you want to achieve, whether that be a sharper focus, reduced anxiety or better sleep.


What are binaural beats?īinaural beats are an auditory illusion created by playing two different tones at slightly different frequencies into each ear. The soundscapes have been proven to bring concentration and enthusiasts are claiming that listening to the sounds can reduce anxiety and even give users a natural psychedelic high. Binaural beats while on the job is now the hottest hustle culture hack.
