The use and harm of binaural beats

The phenomenon of binaural beats is known to mankind for a very long time - from the moment when music appeared. Of course, then for him there was no name, although everyone could feel it and could. For sure it was happening with each person at least once. So, what are binaural beats? Harm or benefit do they carry to man?

Essence

Who does not know the feeling when, for example, when listening to live organ music suddenly feels like a sound pulsing? One way or another, but with almost any person encountered this effect. This phenomenon is familiar to musicians and physicists-acousticians for a long time, but several decades ago it gained immense popularity in certain circles.

The essence of binaural beats is the difference between the frequencies perceived by each ear separately. If in this indicator there is a difference not exceeding 25-30 Hz, and thus the tones are not higher than 1000-1500 Hz, then the human body will feel an unusual effect, which can be described as heartbeat or ripple.

This is not a sound, because the equipment actually does not register anything at this time at low frequencies , but it is perceived by the ear in this way. This effect is easy to observe with the help of ordinary stereo headphones and special tracks that are freely available. However, this phenomenon can also be found in more natural conditions without resorting to such equipment.

History

The repeated "discovery" of binaural beats occurred in the 60s of the 20th century, and was made by the American researcher Robert Monroe. By that time, this effect was known for a long time and described by many scientists, but no one was engaged in the topic of its impact on the human body. Meanwhile, this is not only an important, but also an interesting topic, which still raises questions.

Monroe's works evoke a certain degree of skepticism in many people, since this researcher, among other things, is the author of the famous theory of out-of-body travel. And although modern science denies the possibility of such phenomena, who knows, perhaps it is just not yet studied.

The mechanism of appearance

So, two monotonous sounds add up, resulting in an effect known as binaural beats. The frequencies at which this ripple is "heard", according to the testimony of the apparatus, are absolutely pure. How does this work out? Is it all caused by hallucinations? In fact, science has some explanation for this phenomenon.

The ear hears a sound due to the mechanical impact of the environment on the eardrums. However, the drawing up of a complete picture and perception takes place already in the brain, which processes the information received. It is believed that the sounds of close frequencies applied to different ears, as a result, "generate" a feeling of pulsation in the human head. This is due to the fact that there is an analogue of the phenomenon called diffraction in light physics . The brain itself generates this effect. In this case, the received sound in amplitude is equal to the difference between the frequencies of monotone tones. The brain is truly a unique organ, the possibilities of which have not been fully understood. It is believed that the ability to perceive such sound effects was acquired in the process of evolution for better orientation in space. Those who are most keenly aware of the impact of this kind are believed to have an excellent flair. Thus, such a phenomenon as binaural brain rhythms is outside the sphere of interests of physics and acoustics and is the subject of study of neurophysiologists. Which is quite interesting: this effect is perceived subconsciously and can be fixed by the brain even beyond the threshold of conscious audibility.

Influence on the body

First of all, the influence of binaural beats can be traced to the work of the brain - this can be seen with the help of electroencephalography. It has long been known that without any external influence the main human body generates its own impulses - in different states they differ. Neurophysiologists conditionally distinguish between alpha, beta, gamma, delta and theta waves, depending on what phase of activity the brain and the whole organism are in: it is awake and in a state of active mental work or, for example, falls asleep.

It is believed that different hemispheres work at their frequencies. But they can be synchronized if you use pure binaural beats (monotonous sounds of different amplitudes superimposed on each other just to achieve this effect). As a result, according to some people, this allows using brain resources more efficiently, that is, to increase the productivity of thought processes, to learn faster, to better perceive surrounding information, and so on.

Using

In certain circles, the phenomenon of binaural beats is attributed to various mystical properties. According to followers of some directions of yoga, they help to relax and even enter a state of trance. Meditation becomes deeper and more effective. Binaural beats, as it is believed in this environment, can become a serious impetus to self-knowledge.

Another category of people who are keenly interested in this topic are fans of various esoteric or religious currents. They attribute great importance to this natural phenomenon and even believe that it is capable of curing many ailments. In fact, the therapeutic effect is not proven, although no one prevents the patients from believing this, which once again demonstrates such a phenomenon of human psychology as a placebo.

Benefit

There was no apparent positive impact recorded by authoritative scientists, but this may be due to the fact that no fundamental research has been carried out because of the doubtfulness of the subject matter from the point of view of modern science.

Nevertheless, those scientists who were studying the effect of isochronous heartbeat on the human body, believe that a different frequency can have a different effect. So, a small amplitude difference (up to 8 Hz) relaxes and soothes, helps with falling asleep. Higher frequencies (8-25 Hz), on the contrary, are tuned to the working mode, allow to gather, focus on work, improve the productivity of thought processes, activate the exchange processes.

Experimenting, enthusiasts composed audio recordings to achieve various effects: simple and pleasant awakening, increased concentration or complete relaxation. The product of their activities can be used among other things as a music therapy for various kinds of disorders or problems. However, it is worth remembering that the same thing can be both a medicine and a poison, it all depends on the dose. Are binaural beats so good and harmless?

Harm

Serious negative effects of isochronous beats were not revealed, although some researchers documented some kind of malfunction in the encephalograms of the subjects, which they called paroxysms. In what it was expressed from the physical point of view, it is not known. Nevertheless, in one form or another, binaural waves at some point, under the guise of digital drugs, flooded the entire Internet. Their creators argued that it is harmless and completely harmless, but is it really so?

People do not understand the mechanism by which the brain is affected by binaural beats. The feedback of those who tried the effects of this effect, as a rule, is contradictory. Skeptics do not feel absolutely anything, while suggestible idealists can easily fall prey to their own impressionability.

Audioconautics

Some time ago, the network distributed tracks that were said to cause sensations similar to those experienced by a person who took psychotropic substances. In fact, no noticeable similar effect was detected, the audio recordings, as a rule, contained binaural beats in one form or another, and if gullible adolescents reached the state of the altered consciousness, then, rather, by autosuggestion. In fact, no influence was given by the tracks and was only a ruse of scammers wishing to earn on someone else's curiosity and craving for the forbidden.

Nevertheless, some activists expressed the view that audiarcotics are harmful in the sense that they stimulate a person to potentially dangerous experiments on themselves and their psyche, which in time may lead to less harmless hobbies.

Frequencies of ascension

Having gone a little further, some researchers undertook to study how sounds would affect people not only with a certain frequency difference, but also with different heights. And they revealed some samples that got a rather original name. Terms of the frequency of ascension and binaural beats are usually considered together, and if the last one is devoted to the whole article above, then the first is to say a few words separately. This phrase is called several tones, which are believed to have a particularly strong effect on the living organism. Their regular listening, according to some people, can not only open psychic abilities, but also heal at the level of DNA, give a powerful impetus to the development of intuition, and so on.

Instead of the conclusion, we can say that there is still a lot of unexplored things in the world. Perhaps, what is being ridiculed by the scientific community today, in a couple of decades will be the topic of dissertations and will be applied systematically. However, at the moment, official science considers binaural beats as an artifact of the brain and denies them any significant effect on the body.