Abstract
The presentation of two pure tones to each ear separately with a slight difference in their frequency results in the perception of a single tone that fluctuates in amplitude at a frequency that equals the difference of interaural frequencies. This perceptual phenomenon is known as binaural auditory beats, and it is thought to entrain electrocortical activity and enhance cognition functions such as attention and memory. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of binaural auditory beats on long-term memory. Participants (n = 32) were kept blind to the goal of the study and performed both the free recall and recognition tasks after being exposed to binaural auditory beats, either in the beta (20 Hz) or theta (5 Hz) frequency bands and white noise as a control condition. Exposure to beta-frequency binaural beats yielded a greater proportion of correctly recalled words and a higher sensitivity index dʹ in recognition tasks, while theta-frequency binaural-beat presentation lessened the number of correctly remembered words and the sensitivity index. On the other hand, we could not find differences in the conditional probability for recall given recognition between beta and theta frequencies and white noise, suggesting that the observed changes in recognition were due to the recollection component. These findings indicate that the presentation of binaural auditory beats can affect long-term memory both positively and negatively, depending on the frequency used.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aftanas, L. I., & Golocheikine, S. A. (2001). Human anterior and frontal midline theta and lower alpha reflect emotionally positive state and internalized attention: High-resolution EEG investigation of meditation. Neuroscience Letters, 310(1), 57–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(01)02094-8.
Aftanas, L. I., & Golocheikine, S. A. (2002). Non-linear dynamic complexity of the human EEG during meditation. Neuroscience Letters, 330(2), 143–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(02)00745-0.
Alameda, J. R., & Cuetos, F. (1995). Diccionario de frecuencias de las unidades lingüísticas del español. Servicio de Publicaciones de La Universidad de Oviedo.
Anderson, A. K., Wais, P. E., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2006). Emotion enhances remembrance of neutral events past. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(5), 1599–1604. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0506308103.
Audacity Team. (2015). Audacity®: Free Audio Editor and Recorder.
Başar-Eroglu, C., Başar, E., Demiralp, T., & Schürmann, M. (1992). P300-response: Possible psychophysiological correlates in delta and theta frequency channels. A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 13(2), 161–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-8760(92)90055-G.
Baumeister, J., Reinecke, K., Liesen, H., & Weiss, M. (2008). Cortical activity of skilled performance in a complex sports related motor task. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 104(4), 625–631. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-008-0811-x.
Beauchene, C., Abaid, N., Moran, R., Diana, R. A., & Leonessa, A. (2016). The effect of binaural beats on visuospatial working memory and cortical connectivity. PLoS One, 11(11), e0166630. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166630.
Beauchene, C., Abaid, N., Moran, R., Diana, R. A., & Leonessa, A. (2017). The effect of binaural beats on verbal working memory and cortical connectivity. Journal of Neural Engineering, 14(2), 26014. https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/aa5d67.
Bösel, R. (1993). Die cerebrale Theta-Rhythmizität unterstützt kontextabhängige Diskriminationsleistungen. Kognitionswissenschaft, 3(1), 53–69.
Brady, B., & Stevens, L. (2000). Binaural-beat induced theta EEG activity and hypnotic susceptibility. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 43(1), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2000.10404255.
Brenner, R. P., Ulrich, R. F., Spiker, D. G., Sclabassi, R. J., Reynolds, C. F., Marin, R. S., & Boller, F. (1986). Computerized EEG spectral analysis in elderly normal, demented and depressed subjects. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 64(6), 483–492. https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4694(86)90184-7.
Buchanan, T. W., & Lovallo, W. R. (2001). Enhanced memory for emotional material following stress-level cortisol treatment in humans. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 26(3), 307–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4530(00)00058-5.
Buzsáki, G. (2006). Rhythms of the brain. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195301069.001.0001.
Cabeza, R., Grady, C. L., Nyberg, L., McIntosh, A. R., Tulving, E., Kapur, S., Craik, F. I. M. (1997). Age-related differences in neural activity during memory encoding and retrieval: A positron emission tomography study. The Journal of Neuroscience, 17(1), 391–400.
Chen, Y., & Huang, X. (2016). Modulation of alpha and beta oscillations during an n-back task with varying temporal memory load. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 20–31. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02031.
Colzato, L. S., Barone, H., Sellaro, R., & Hommel, B. (2017a). More attentional focusing through binaural beats: Evidence from the global–local task. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 81(1), 271–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-015-0727-0.
Colzato, L. S., Steenbergen, L., & Sellaro, R. (2017b). The effect of gamma-enhancing binaural beats on the control of feature bindings. Experimental Brain Research, 235(7), 2125–2131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-4957-9.
Dabu-Bondoc, S., Vadivelu, N., Benson, J., Perret, D., & Kain, Z. N. (2010). Hemispheric synchronized sounds and perioperative analgesic requirements. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 110(1), 208–210. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0b013e3181bea424.
Daselaar, S. M., Prince, S. E., Dennis, N. A., Hayes, S. M., Kim, H., & Cabeza, R. (2009). Posterior midline and ventral parietal activity is associated with retrieval success and encoding failure. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 3, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/neuro.09.013.2009.
Davachi, L., Mitchell, J. P., & Wagner, A. D. (2003). Multiple routes to memory: Distinct medial temporal lobe processes build item and source memories. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(4), 2157–2162. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0337195100.
de Vanssay-Maigne, A., Noulhiane, M., Devauchelle, A. D., Rodrigo, S., Baudoin-Chial, S., Meder, J. F., Chassoux, F. (2011). Modulation of encoding and retrieval by recollection and familiarity: Mapping the medial temporal lobe networks. NeuroImage, 58(4), 1131–1138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.06.086.
Dickter, C. L., & Kieffaber, P. D. (2013). EEG methods for the psychological sciences. London: Sage.
Draganova, R., Ross, B., Wollbrink, A., & Pantev, C. (2008). Cortical steady-state responses to central and peripheral auditory beats. Cerebral Cortex, 18(5), 1193–1200. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhm153.
Egner, T., & Gruzelier, J. H. (2004). EEG biofeedback of low beta band components: Frequency-specific effects on variables of attention and event-related brain potentials. Clinical Neurophysiology, 115(1), 131–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1388-2457(03)00353-5.
Evans, J. S. B. T., & Stanovich, K. E. (2013). Dual-process theories of higher cognition. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(3), 223–241. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612460685.
Eysenck, M. W. (1976). Arousal, learning, and memory. Psychological Bulletin, 83(3), 389–404. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.83.3.389.
Fernández, M. M. (1996). Señales aleatorias y ruido. ETS de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación. http://lmi.bwh.harvard.edu/papers/pdfs/1996/martin-fernandezCOURSE96b.pdf.
Gao, X., Cao, H., Ming, D., Qi, H., Wang, X., Wang, X., Zhou, P. (2014). Analysis of EEG activity in response to binaural beats with different frequencies. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 94(3), 399–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2014.10.010.
Goodin, P., Ciorciari, J., Baker, K., Carrey, A.-M., Harper, M., & Kaufman, J. (2012). A high-density EEG investigation into steady state binaural beat stimulation. PLoS One, 7(4), e34789. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034789.
Grunwald, M., Weiss, T., Krause, W., Beyer, L., Rost, R., Gutberlet, I., & Gertz, H.-J. (1999). Power of theta waves in the EEG of human subjects increases during recall of haptic information. Neuroscience Letters, 260(3), 189–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(98)00990-2.
Hebert, R., & Lehmann, D. (1977). Theta bursts: An EEG pattern in normal subjects practising the transcendental meditation technique. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 42(3), 397–405. https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4694(77)90176-6.
Hink, R. F., Kodera, K., Yamada, O., Kaga, K., & Suzuki, J. (1980). Binaural interaction of a beating frequency-following response. International Journal of Audiology, 19(1), 36–43. https://doi.org/10.3109/00206098009072647.
Hoaglin, D. C., & Iglewicz, B. (1987). Fine-tuning some resistant rules for outlier labeling. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 82(400), 1147. https://doi.org/10.2307/2289392.
Hoaglin, D. C., Iglewicz, B., & Tukey, J. W. (1986). Performance of some resistant rules for outlier labeling. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 81(396), 991. https://doi.org/10.2307/2289073.
Hommel, B., Sellaro, R., Fischer, R., Borg, S., & Colzato, L. S. (2016). High-frequency binaural beats increase cognitive flexibility: Evidence from dual-task crosstalk. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1287. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01287.
Huang, T. L., & Charyton, C. (2008). A comprehensive review of the psychological effects of brainwave entrainment. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 14(5), 38–50.
Ioannou, C. I., Pereda, E., Lindsen, J. P., & Bhattacharya, J. (2015). Electrical brain responses to an auditory illusion and the impact of musical expertise. PLoS One, 10(6), e0129486. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129486.
Jaiswal, N., Ray, W., & Slobounov, S. (2010). Encoding of visual–spatial information in working memory requires more cerebral efforts than retrieval: Evidence from an EEG and virtual reality study. Brain Research, 1347, 80–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2010.05.086.
Jirakittayakorn, N., & Wongsawat, Y. (2017). Brain responses to a 6-Hz binaural beat: Effects on general theta rhythm and frontal midline theta activity. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 11, 365. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2017.00365.
Karino, S. (2006). Neuromagnetic responses to binaural beat in human cerebral cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology, 96(4), 1927–1938. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00859.2005.
Karino, S., Yumoto, M., Itoh, K., Uno, A., Matsuda, M., Yamakawa, K., Kaga, K. (2004). Magnetoencephalographic study of human auditory steady-state responses to binaural beat. International Congress Series, 1270, 169–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ics.2004.05.072.
Kennerly, R. C. (1994). An empirical investigation into the effect of beta frequency binaural beat audio signals on four measures of human memory (MSc thesis). West Georgia College.
Kensinger, E. A., & Schacter, D. L. (2006). Amygdala activity is associated with the successful encoding of item, but not source, information for positive and negative stimuli. Journal of Neuroscience, 26(9), 2564–2570. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5241-05.2006.
Knight, M., & Mather, M. (2009). Reconciling findings of emotion-induced memory enhancement and impairment of preceding items. Emotion, 9(6), 763–781. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017281.
Kopell, N., Whittington, M. A., & Kramer, M. A. (2011). Neuronal assembly dynamics in the beta1 frequency range permits short-term memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(9), 3779–3784. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019676108.
Kraus, J., & Porubanová, M. (2015). The effect of binaural beats on working memory capacity. Studia Psychologica, 57(2), 135–145. https://doi.org/10.21909/sp.2015.02.689.
LaBar, K. S., & Phelps, E. A. (1998). Arousal-mediated memory consolidation: Role of the medial temporal lobe in humans. Psychological Science, 9(6), 490–493. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00090.
Lane, J. D., Kasian, S. J., Owens, J. E., & Marsh, G. R. (1998). Binaural auditory beats affect vigilance performance and mood. Physiology and Behavior, 63(2), 249–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9384(97)00436-8.
Lavallee, C. F., Koren, S. A., & Persinger, M. A. (2011). A quantitative electroencephalographic study of meditation and binaural beat entrainment. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 17(4), 351–355. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2009.0691.
Le Scouarnec, R. P., Poirier, R. M., Owens, J. E., Gauthier, J., Taylor, A. G., & Foresman, P. A. (2001). Use of binaural beat tapes for treatment of anxiety: A pilot study of tape preference and outcomes. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 7(1), 58–63.
Licklider, J. C. R., Webster, J. C., & Hedlun, J. M. (1950). On the frequency limits of binaural beats. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 22(4), 468–473. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1906629.
Macmillan, N. A., & Creelman, C. D. (2004). Detection theory: A user’s guide. Mahwah: Psychology Press.
Mandler, G. (1980). Recognizing: The judgment of previous occurrence. Psychological Review, 87(3), 252–271. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.87.3.252.
Moore, B. C. J. (2012). An introduction to the psychology of hearing (6th edn.). London: Brill.
Nashiro, K., & Mather, M. (2011). Effects of emotional arousal on memory binding in normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease. The American Journal of Psychology, 124(3), 301–312. https://doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.124.3.0301.
Nielson, K. A., & Bryant, T. (2005). The effects of non-contingent extrinsic and intrinsic rewards on memory consolidation. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 84(1), 42–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2005.03.004.
Nielson, K. A., & Powless, M. (2007). Positive and negative sources of emotional arousal enhance long-term word-list retention when induced as long as 30 min after learning. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 88(1), 40–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2007.03.005.
Ortiz, T., Martínez, A. M., Fernández, A., Maestu, F., Campo, P., Hornero, R., Poch, J. (2008). Impact of auditory stimulation at a frequency of 5 Hz in verbal memory. Actas Espanolas de Psiquiatria, 36(6), 307–313.
Oster, G. (1973). Auditory beats in the brain. Scientific American, 229(4), 94–102. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1073-94.
Padmanabhan, R., Hildreth, A. J., & Laws, D. (2005). A prospective, randomised, controlled study examining binaural beat audio and pre-operative anxiety in patients undergoing general anaesthesia for day case surgery. Anaesthesia, 60(9), 874–877. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2044.2005.04287.x.
Paus, T., Zatorre, R. J., Hofle, N., Caramanos, Z., Gotman, J., Petrides, M., & Evans, A. C. (1997). Time-related changes in neural systems underlying attention and arousal during the performance of an auditory vigilance task. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 9(3), 392–408. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.1997.9.3.392.
Pennekamp, P., Bösel, R., Mecklinger, A., & Ott, H. (1994). Differences in EEG-theta for responded and omitted targets in a sustained attention task. Journal of Psychophysiology, 8(2), 131–141.
Perrott, D. R., & Nelson, M. A. (1969). Limits for the detection of binaural beats. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 46(6B), 1477–1481. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1911890.
Ranganath, C., Yonelinas, A. P., Cohen, M. X., Dy, C. J., Tom, S. M., & D’Esposito, M. (2004). Dissociable correlates of recollection and familiarity within the medial temporal lobes. Neuropsychologia, 42(1), 2–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.07.006.
Reedijk, S. A., Bolders, A., Colzato, L. S., & Hommel, B. (2015). Eliminating the attentional blink through binaural beats: A case for tailored cognitive enhancement. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 6, 82. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00082.
Reedijk, S. A., Bolders, A., & Hommel, B. (2013). The impact of binaural beats on creativity. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7(November), 786. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00786.
Saletu, B., & Grünberger, J. (1985). Memory dysfunction and vigilance: Neurophysiological and psychopharmacological aspects. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 444(1 Memory Dysfun), 406–427. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1985.tb37604.x.
Smeets, T., Otgaar, H., Candel, I., & Wolf, O. T. (2008). True or false? Memory is differentially affected by stress-induced cortisol elevations and sympathetic activity at consolidation and retrieval. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33(10), 1378–1386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.07.009.
Smit, A. S., Eling, P. A. T., & Coenen, A. M. (2004). Mental effort affects vigilance enduringly: After-effects in EEG and behavior. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 53(3), 239–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2004.04.005.
Smith, J. C., Marsh, J. T., & Brown, W. S. (1975). Far-field recorded frequency-following responses: Evidence for the locus of brainstem sources. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 39(5), 465–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4694(75)90047-4.
Strange, B. A., Hurlemann, R., & Dolan, R. J. (2003). An emotion-induced retrograde amnesia in humans is amygdala- and -adrenergic-dependent. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(23), 13626–13631. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1635116100.
Swann, R., Bosanko, S., Cohen, R., Midgley, R., & Seed, K. M. (1982). The brain—a user’s manual. New York: GP Putnam’s Sons, p. 92.
Tallon-Baudry, C., Bertrand, O., & Fischer, C. (2001). Oscillatory synchrony between human extrastriate areas during visual short-term memory maintenance. The Journal of Neuroscience, 21(20), RC177. Retrieved from http://www.jneurosci.org/content/21/20/RC177.
Thompson, L. W., & Obrist, W. D. (1964). EEG correlates of verbal learning and overlearning. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 16(4), 332–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4694(64)90067-7.
Tobias, J. V. (1965). Consistency of sex differences in binaural-beat perception. International Audiology, 4(2), 179–182. https://doi.org/10.3109/05384916509074132.
Tsai, J.-F., Jou, S.-H., Cho, W., & Lin, C.-M. (2013). Electroencephalography when meditation advances: A case-based time-series analysis. Cognitive Processing, 14(4), 371–376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-013-0563-3.
Tulving, E., Kapur, S., Craik, F. I., Moscovitch, M., & Houle, S. (1994). Hemispheric encoding/retrieval asymmetry in episodic memory: Positron emission tomography findings. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 91(6), 2016–2020.
Vernon, D. (2009). Human potential: Exploring techniques used to enhance human performance. New York: Routledge.
Vernon, D., Peryer, G., Louch, J., & Shaw, M. (2014). Tracking EEG changes in response to alpha and beta binaural beats. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 93(1), 134–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.10.008.
Wahbeh, H., Calabrese, C., Zwickey, H., & Zajdel, D. (2007). Binaural beat technology in humans: A pilot study to assess neuropsychologic, physiologic, and electroencephalographic effects. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 13(2), 199–206. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2006.6201.
Weiss, S., Mueller, H. M., Schack, B., King, J. W., Kutas, M., & Rappelsberger, P. (2005). Increased neuronal communication accompanying sentence comprehension. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 57(2), 129–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/jjpsycho.2005.03.013.
Wernick, J. S., & Starr, A. (1968). Binaural interaction in the superior olivary complex of the cat: An analysis of field potentials evoked by binaural-beat stimuli. Journal of Neurophysiology, 31(3), 428–441.
Yamsa-ard, T., & Wongsawat, Y. (2015). The observation of theta wave modulation on brain training by 5 Hz-binaural beat stimulation in seven days. Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2015–Novem, 6667–6670. https://doi.org/10.1109/EMBC.2015.7319922.
Yonelinas, A. P. (2002). The nature of recollection and familiarity: A review of 30 years of research. Journal of Memory and Language, 46(3), 441–517. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.2002.2864.
Acknowledgements
We thank the editor and reviewers for their highly valuable comments and suggestions that led to significant improvement of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
Miguel Garcia-Argibay, Miguel A. Santed, and José M. Reales declare having no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Garcia-Argibay, M., Santed, M.A. & Reales, J.M. Binaural auditory beats affect long-term memory. Psychological Research 83, 1124–1136 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-017-0959-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-017-0959-2