Have you heard of binaural beats? I first heard of this when back when I was in high school but never really gave them a try until college. Binaural beats “is an auditory illusion perceived when two different pure-tone sine waves, both with frequencies lower than 1500 Hz, with less than a 40 Hz difference between them, are presented to a listener dichotically.” Ok, this sounds weird, they’re basically just beats that are going at different frequencies in each ear. When you’re listening to binaural beats, you’ll need earphones or headphones so that you can enjoy the full experience. Binaural beats are supposed to help you feel relaxed, and depending on the Hertz (Hz) there will be different effects—Gamma, 30 to 50 Hz, are supposed to help you concentrate and study; while Delta, 0.1 to 4 Hz, are supposed to help you relax and help you fall asleep. The frequency of the beats is said to help you “zone in” and concentrate.
I have tried binaural beats while studying for midterms and finals and I can honestly say I like it and tell all my friends to try it. Usually if I’m listening to music that I like, I’ll get distracted. After getting distracted I’ll try to listen to classical music but for some reason, I always space off and think of the tiniest things while listening to classical—it’s weird really, I’ll stare at the wall for 15 minutes without any clear thoughts. I started listening to binaural beats and so far, while listening to them and studying, I don’t get distracted or space off into the abyss. Go ahead, try binaural beats, you might turn into a fan too!
*images courtesy of tumblr