Binaural beats are special sounds. It is claimed that they help a person have different brainwaves when they listen to them. They may help people with pain when they are in hospital. Some people use binaural beats to help them sleep, meditate or have out of body experiences. There are computer programs and smartphone programs that make binaural beats.
Many of the claims are not verified at present.
History[change | change source]
Heinrich Wilhelm Dove (1803–1879) discovered binaural beats in 1839 and published his findings in the scientific journal Repertorium der Physik. While research about them continued after that, the subject remained something of a scientific curiosity until 134 years later, with the publishing of Gerald Oster's article "Auditory beats in the brain" (Scientific American, 1973). Oster's article identified and assembled the scattered islands of relevant research since Dove, offering fresh insight (and new laboratory findings) to research on binaural beats.
Oster saw binaural beats as a powerful tool for cognitive and neurological research. Unsolved questions include how animals locate sounds in their environment: the remarkable ability of animals to pick out and focus on specific sounds in a sea of noise (known as the cocktail party effect).
References[change | change source]
- Oster G. 1973. Auditory beats in the brain. Sci. Am. 229 (4): 94–102.
- Hemispheric-synchronisation during anaesthesia: a double-blind randomised trial using audiotapes for intra-operative nociception control, Jan 2000, Kliempt, Ruta, Ogston, Landeck & Martay
- Accessing anomalous states of consciousness with a binaural beat technology Journal of Scientic Exploration. 1, (3) pp. 263-274, 1997
- Wahbeh H. et al 2007. Binaural beat technology in humans: a pilot study to assess neuropsychologic, physiologic, and electroencephalographic effects. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine 13 (2): 199–206. 
- Heinrich Wilhelm Dove 1839. Repertorium der Physik. III, 494.