Effects of inaudible binaural beats on visuospatial memory.

OBJECTIVES: Binaural beats are auditory beat stimulation that produces sounds and induces a specific state of brain wave based on the difference in the frequency of stimulation. This study aimed to investigate the effects of inaudible binaural beats on visuospatial memory at 18 000 Hz reference and 10 Hz difference frequencies. METHODS: Eighteen adult subjects in their twenties were enrolled, including 12 males (mean age: 23.8 ±â€…1.2) and 6 females (mean age: 22.8 ±â€…0.8). An auditory stimulator providing 10 Hz binaural beats stimulation via 18 000 Hz to the left and 18 010 Hz to the right ears was used. The experiment consisted of two 5-min phases, including a rest phase and a task phase involving task performance without (Task-only) and with binaural beats stimulation (Task+BB). A 3-back task was used to measure visuospatial memory. Cognitive ability measured by task performance (accuracy and reaction time) with and without binaural beats, as well as variations in alpha power across different brain domains, were compared using paired t-tests. RESULTS: Compared to the Task-only condition, the Task+BB condition had significantly higher accuracy and significantly shorter reaction time. The electroencephalogram analysis showed that the reduction level in alpha power for the task performance under the Task+BB condition was significantly lower in all brain areas except the frontal, compared to that under the Task-only condition. CONCLUSION: The significance of this study lies in having verified the independent effects of binaural beats stimulation without any auditory influence, based on visuospatial memory.

Frequency-following response effect according to gender using a 10-Hz binaural beat stimulation.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have continuously investigated FFRs using binaural beat (BB) stimulations and their related effects. However, only a few studies have investigated the differences in BB stimulation effects according to basic demographic characteristics, such as gender and age. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the alpha wave activity after a 10-Hz BB stimulation and subsequently identify differences according to gender across all brain areas (frontal, central, parietal, temporal, and occipital areas). METHODS: A total of 23 healthy adults (11 male and 12 female), aged 20-29, participated in the study. For the 10-Hz BB stimulation, pure tone auditory stimuli of 250 and 260 Hz were given to the left and right ear, respectively. Through a power spectrum analysis of the phase-excluding BBs (non-BBs) and phase-including 10-Hz BBs (α-BBs), the alpha power at each brain area was estimated. These values were compared using a mixed-design ANOVA. RESULTS: With the exception of the temporal area, all other brain areas showed a significant increase in alpha power for α-BBs compared to those of non-BBs. However, the difference according to gender was not significant. CONCLUSION: The results indicated the lack of gender effects in alpha wave generation through a 10-Hz BB stimulation.

Effect of binaural beat in the inaudible band on EEG (STROBE).

This study aimed to determine the effects of the binaural beat (BB) on brainwave induction using an inaudible baseline frequency outside the audible frequency range. Experiments were conducted on 18 subjects (11 males [mean age: 25.7 ± 1.6 years] and 7 females [mean age: 24.0 ± 0.6 years]). A BB stimulation of 10 Hz was exerted by presenting frequencies of 18,000 Hz and 18,010 Hz to the left and right ears, respectively. A power spectrum analysis was performed to estimate the mean of the absolute power of the alpha frequency range (8-13 Hz). The variation in the mean alpha power during the rest and stimulation phases in each brain area was compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Compared to the rest phase, the stimulation phase with BB showed an increasing trend in the mean alpha power across all 5 brain areas. Notably, a significant increase was found in the frontal, central, and temporal areas. This is a significant study in that it determines the effects of only BB without the influence of auditory perception, which has been overlooked in previous studies.

Changes in simple visual matching task performance and physiological signals in intellectually and developmentally disabled people due to administration of highly concentrated oxygen.

BACKGROUND: This study attempted to identify the effect of administration of highly concentrated oxygen on simple visual matching task performance, blood oxygen saturation [SpO2 (%)], and heart rate [HR (bpm)] of intellectually and developmentally disabled people. METHODS: Nineteen intellectually and developmentally disabled people (mean age 30.6 ± 5.7 years) participated in an experiment consisting of a simple visual matching task performed under 21% and 92% oxygen. SpO2 and HR were measured under both oxygen conditions. RESULTS: When 92% oxygen was supplied, the response time decreased, SpO2 increased, and HR decreased compared to the vales obtained using 21% oxygen. The response time decreased for subjects with a high SpO2 and HR during the simple visual matching task phase. CONCLUSION: This result supports the hypothesis that administration of highly concentrated oxygen can positively affect the cognitive performance of intellectually and developmentally disabled people.