With university life in full swing now, I have been seeing lots of āOctober lock-inā videos on my For You page giving advice on how to study smarter and manage your mental health in the upcoming winter months. Iāll be honest, I usually ignore these types of videos, but the number that have preached binaural beats that will ātransform my brainā through a neurological illusion caught my attention. As a music lover and neuroscience student, it intrigued me, as it doesnāt take much for me to throw my headphones on (maybe a wee bit too much).
In case you havenāt heard of them before, binaural beats are created by playing two slightly different frequencies of music into each ear at the same time. The difference between the frequencies forms the binaural beat! Different combinations of frequencies are meant to help with things like mood, focus, and sleep, but the science on whether it actually works or not is very mixed.
Binaural beats are not completely new to me: my Mum is a big fan of them, and her repetitive effort to encourage me to try them after yet another one of my crises has always been met with skepticism (sorry, Mum). Until now.
Deadlines are looming, and I must say the promise of having stress relief and productive study only from listening to music with two different frequencies sounds pretty great. So, every day this week, Iām going to listen to 15 minutes of different binaural beats on YouTube that are relevant to my student life and tell you what I think!
I thought Iād start the week off strong with some positive binaural beats. I didnāt feel like I was in a noticeably more positive mood after listening, but that might have just been the Monday blues! I had high hopes for this one, as I feel like itās sometimes hard to stay positive in winter, but on to the nextā¦Ā
After an intense lab, I decided to listen to binaural beats that promised some much-needed stress relief. I felt calm after listening, as it allowed me time to slow my thoughts down, breathe, and reflect, which I reckon we all should be doing more often. It left me feeling like binaural beats could genuinely work.Ā
As students, I think we can all agree that sleep is something we collectively donāt get enough of, so I thought Iād listen to some deep-sleep binaural beats before bed. I enjoyed this one and think it did help my sleep quality, as I woke up feeling very rested, but that might just be because it was the earliest I had gone to bed all week – eek! I actually listened to this one again the night after and might start using it more often!
As someone who suffers (I do it to myself) from procrastination, the second I saw binaural beats for ‘Genius Brain Frequency,ā I was sold. I mean, come on, who wouldnāt want the promise of being a genius? I donāt usually listen to music while studying, so I thought it would be a big distraction for me, but I donāt think Iāve actually ever studied so well! Genius coming your way…Ā
No, unfortunately, these are not cool, niche binaural beats that will help my brain. Spoons. The pub. Called. So no binaural beats for me. There should definitely be some binaural beats for getting hyped to go to the pub, though (Iām a student; what can I say).
Anyways, take this review (If I can even call it that) lightly, as it was rather chaotic. Do I think that binaural beats actually work? Honestly, Iām still unsure. I feel like some did help me mentally, but I donāt know if thatās just due to the music being calming and (for the most part) enjoyable to listen to. I think you should try it out for yourself and see.
I did notice that many people in the video comments said that binaural beats have changed their lives and helped them cope mentally. So, regardless of whether binaural beats really make a scientific difference in our brains, it seems to help a lot of people heal from within. I think thatās rare in current times, as the focus is so strongly on how you appear on the outside. If it makes people feel that way, then I donāt think it really matters whether it is in our heads scientifically or in our heads subjectively.