[RobotToaster]

Reminds me of a study I read once on binaural beats[0], that found the effect disappeared when they used pneumatic (non-magnetic) headphones.

[0]the theory that playing a different tone in each ear, that when superpositioned by the brain to produce a low frequency, would entrain the brainwave frequency to the modulated frequency.

[boomskats]

Just the fact that your brain 'sums' those signals somewhere, to let you hear that interference frequency, has always fascinated me.

Do you have a link to the pmeumatic headphones study you mention?

[RobotToaster]

I did some digging, I couldn't find the paper but I found a reference to it on a wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Monroe#Hemi-Sync

[bamboozled]

Is there any actual science behind binaural beats? They do nothing in my experience…

[dijit]

“nothing”, how?

Nothing as in lasting effects, or “nothing” as in you can’t hear the bineurality.

If the latter, it could be your headphones- and I assume you are using headphones, or the compression, or your ears might be non-equivalent in hearing capability.

If the former, then thats the point OP is making.

At least for me, the sound is strangely pleasurable, not incredibly dissimilar to the kind of “multiple audio sources colliding into one nice stream” that you get from a real life orchestra.

[dahart]

Quick google search… from Popular Science:

“Among the 14 studies reviewed, five supported the idea, eight contradicted it, and one ended with mixed results.”

They talk about a few studies with positive results, but then share this:

“not every study shows positive effects. One 2023 study of 1,000 people found that listening to binaural beats at home while taking a test reduced their performance, while silence or listening to other sounds had no impact.”

(Here’s the study referred to: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372220600_Reverse_e...)

https://www.popsci.com/science/do-binaural-beats-work-focus/

WebMD has no clear results either, summarizing:

“Some early research suggests they may affect your brainwaves in ways that may help with attention, anxiety, sleep, and more. But other studies found unclear and mixed results. There aren't scientifically proven guidelines for how best to use binaural beats, or whether they can improve your mental health and thinking.”

It also mentions “they didn’t stop attention from declining over time.”

https://www.webmd.com/balance/what-are-binaural-beats

When asked if binaural beats work, Google’s AI answer confidently starts with the word “Yes”, but fails to back it up with scientific references. And I found some commercial sales listicles (e.g., Ohm Store) and YouTube videos that strongly claim binaural beats are amazing, but also have little to back it up.

My personal experience listening to binaural beats is it helps with focus on coding about the same amount as listening to color noise or rain & thunder or other non-musical audio tracks. Listening to anything masks office chatter and distracting noises.

[skeledrew]

I successfully used it during college (over 10 years ago) to regulate my general brain state, particularly at deadlines. I mainly used beats to maintain focus, trigger creativity/reflection and for power naps. Got me through some tough times.

[embedding-shape]

I did the same thing around 20 years ago, but with just drum and bass, nothing "binaural" about it. Might work any genre of music, as long as you like it :) YMMV

[skeledrew]

Even taking 20-minute naps (although they sometimes became about an hour, as I'd be so out of it that I extended the schedule)?

[embedding-shape]

Indeed, if I feel like crashing out, sink a quick espresso, put on some ambient drum and bass on the TV and take a 20-30 nap in the sofa, works every time.

[mewpmewp2]

How can you tell it is not a placebo? I guess it's just weird for me to think that it seems to do absolutely nothing to me, yet some people claim effects?

[skeledrew]

Even if it's a placebo, that it got the job done is what matters. But how would I even test Ig it was a placebo effect? I already have the experience of not being able to go the lengths I did with it, without it. Like I really drove myself to meet some bad deadlines, and paid for it several days after; I couldn't drive myself like that otherwise (I don't drink coffee, energy drinks, etc).

[econ]

There use to be one Google video (out of many) that would completely fix my migraine in 3 minutes. Used it about 200 times for that. Hangovers, lack of sleep and spontaneous headaches. At other times it just gave great clarity, very refreshing regardless of the time of day.

I didn't use headphones. I had the link at the top of my blog menu. It was that important.

When Google video shut down I forgot to download it. Caused a slight panic lol The headaches now remind me of it but it is not the right mood to search and the videos online are all useless garbage.

I played it for a friend one time. He instantly put both hands on his head and screamed that I should shut it of immediately. He was really upset and thought I did it on purpose. Also didn't understand how I wasn't negativity affected like him.

If I didn't find that video I'd be convinced it's bullshit.

[skeledrew]

> Also didn't understand how I wasn't negativity affected like him.

It's very possible that even though everyone's brains are built from the same template, each brain is tuned uniquely, leading to different processing of the same stimuli (and conversely, perhaps similar processing of different stimuli) in various cases. The thought experiment that comes to mind is the possibility of 2 persons looking at objects of a particular colour, and agreeing for example that the colour is "red", but internally their brains are actually receiving different signals; it's the common language which makes it possible to share similar experiences.

[krackers]

Do you have a link to that video? You could check internet archive, or see if some other person had downloaded it

[ashirviskas]

I'm now super interested in that video, what was it like?

[spuz]

Did you ever find the video again or another like it?

[hexo]

go visit a doctor.

edit: lol. downvotes on friendly reminder, what a classic.

my friend was not sure what everyone sees on 3d TVs. then got rid of it. later it turned out it was because of eye cancer.

take care.

[dahart]

FWIW, your first line by itself does not come off as a friendly reminder at all. If that’s all that was there before your edit, I can understand why it inspired some reactions. The edit suggesting it’s everyone else’s fault isn’t going to help either, but I will take your comment as well intentioned and vote it up, it sucks your friend had eye cancer, and it’s a good idea to get preventative checkups.

Even as a friendly reminder, an implication of your first line is that binaural beats should work, and that if it doesn’t something is wrong. Did you mean to imply that? If so do you have an answer to the question about scientific support?

[TeMPOraL]

My hypothesis for both this and most of the things stated in the article: the EEG machine itself is picking up the fluctuations in its EM environment.

I mean, what's more likely - that the binaural beats retune brain, or that someone forgot that any straight-ish piece of wire is a radio antenna, and the signal being seen comes straight from headphones? Using pneumatic headphones would make it go away too.

[Teever]

I wonder if they tested by running the experiment without a human in to get a baseline measurement.