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Binaural stimulation in migraine: preliminary results from a 3-month evening treatment
... López-Caballero and Escera (2017) reported inconclusive results for BB in brainwave entrainment. Lovati et al. (2019) also reported inconclusive findings regarding effects of BB for relief of headache, anxiety, depression and sleep problems. Solcà et al. (2016) found that while 4 and 10 Hz BB selectively synchronized the brain hemispheres, no behavioral effects were found. ...
... Listening to BB has been shown to induce synchronization of the brain hemispheres (Solcà et al., 2016) and BB help us to study or to effect cognitive brain function (Becher et al., 2015;Beauchene et al., 2016;Garcia-Argibay et al., 2019). When BB are used in a well-researched, conscious, evidence-based manner, there is a large amount of evidence showing that BB can be helpful in the categories of sleep (Gantt et al., 2017;Jirakittayakorn and Wongsawat, 2017;Bang et al., 2019;Lovati et al., 2019), anxiety (Isik et al., 2017;Garcia-Argibay et al., 2019), stress (Gantt et al., 2017), brain function (Gao et al., 2014;Reedijk et al., 2015), attention/cognition (Colzato et al., 2017;Lim et al., 2018;Garcia-Argibay et al., 2019;Axelsen et al., 2020), memory (Colzato et al., 2017;Gálvez et al., 2018;Lim et al., 2018); nervous system (da Silva et al., 2020), trance/meditation (Jirakittayakorn and Wongsawat, 2017;Perales et al., 2019), and as an analgesic (Garcia-Argibay et al., 2019;Perales et al., 2019;Gkolias et al., 2020). Gao et al. (2014) specifically suggested that treatments to improve clarity, focus, and sleep; to deepen meditation relaxation, to increase working memory and episodic memory; and to support ADHD may be the proper application of this tool. ...
... There are still many BB studies that show inconclusive or no effects (Solcà et al., 2016;López-Caballero and Escera, 2017;Lovati et al., 2019;Munro and Searchfield, 2019;Perez et al., 2020). This relatively new research field is still determining its parameters. ...
We recruited subjects with the focus on people who were stressed and needed a break to experience relaxation. The study used inaudible binaural beats (BB) to measure the ability of BB to induce a relaxed state. We found through measuring brain wave activity that in fact BB seem to objectively induce a state of relaxation. We were able to see this across several scores, F3/F4 Alpha Assessment and CZ Theta Beta, calculated from EEG readings, that indicated an increase in positive outlook and a relaxing brain, respectively, and scalp topography maps. Most subjects also showed an improvement in Menlascan measurements of microcirculation or cardiovascular score, although the Menlascan scores and Big Five character assessment results were less conclusive. BB seem to have profound effects on the physiology of subjects and since the beats were not audible, these effects could not be attributed to the placebo effect. These results are encouraging in terms of developing musical products incorporating BB to affect human neural rhythms and corollary states of consciousness and warrant further research with more subjects and different frequencies of BB and different music tracks.
... Listening to BB has been shown to induce synchronization of the brain hemispheres (Solca et al., 2016), and BB helps us to study or to affect cognitive brain function (Becher et al., 2015;Beauchene et al., 2016;Garcia-Argibay et al., 2019). When BB is used in a well-researched, conscious, evidence-based manner, there is a large amount of evidence showing that BB can be helpful in the categories of sleep (Bang et al., 2019;Gantt et al., 2017;Jirakittayakorn & Wongsawat, 2018;Lovati et al., 2019), anxiety (Garcia-Argibay et al., 2019;Isik et al., 2017), stress (Gantt et al., 2017), brain function (Gao et al., 2014;Reedijk et al., 2015), attention/cognition (Axelsen et al., 2020;Colzato, Barrone et al., 2017;Garcia-Argibay et al., 2019;Lim et al., 2018), memory (Colzato, Steenbergen, & Sellaro, 2017;Gálvez et al., 2018;Lim et al., 2018); nervous system (Da Silva Júnior et al., 2020), trance/meditation (Jirakittayakorn & Wongsawat, 2018;Perales et al., 2019), and as an analgesic (Garcia-Argibay et al., 2019;Gkolias et al., 2020;Perales et al., 2019). Gao et al. (2014) specifically suggested that treatments to improve clarity, focus, and sleep, deepen meditation relaxation, increase working memory and episodic memory, and support ADHD may be the proper application of this tool. ...
... There are still many BB studies that show inconclusive or no effects (López-Caballero & Escera, 2017;Lovati et al., 2019;Munro & Searchfield, 2019;Perez et al., 2020;Solcá et al., 2016). This relatively new research field is still determining its parameters. ...
We recruited subjects who reported feeling stressed and needing a break and were seeking an opportunity to experience relaxation. Inaudible binaural beats (BB) were used to measure the ability of BB to induce relaxation. Measurements included EEG, Menlascan (cardiovascular and ANS) (Menla Technologies, Independence, Missouri), and GDV (Gas Discharge Visualization/Kirlian Photography) (Korotkov et al., 2020). Further, a Big Five Character Assessment was administered, and individual Brief Mood Introspection Scales (BMIS) were collected for each condition. Subjects experienced an improvement in brain function, microcirculation or cardiovascular score, bioenergy, and a calmer brain after adding binaural beats to brown noise or to music plus brown noise, although the Menlascan scores and Big Five character assessment results were less conclusive. BB seems to have profound effects on the physiology of subjects, and since the beats were not audible, these effects could not be attributed to the placebo effect. These results are encouraging in terms of developing musical products incorporating BB to affect human neural rhythms and corollary states of consciousness and warrant further research with more subjects and different frequencies of BB and different music tracks.
... Specifically, frequency content modification for spatial hearing is based on the directional bands proposed by Blauert, which indicate that the brain associates vertical direction with spectral cues [2]. Sound, used with a therapeutic approach, has been employed for the treatment of neurological conditions such as tinnitus [3][4][5] and pain [6,7]. Acoustic treatments intend to cause relief in sufferers with incurable conditions, and induce neuroplastic changes due to sound habituation. ...
Sound can be described as the journey of energy traveling as waves into the auditory system. The way this energy changes before being interpreted by the human brain is affected by many physical factors, particularly the response of audio systems. Audio devices such as headphones are variables that are not considered in many studies concerning acoustic therapies, which pursue the betterment in many aspects of human behavior. This work aims to explore neurophysiological and psychoacoustical responses after a month of daily exposure to pink noise sounds-stimuli psychoacoustically adjusted to the human hearing and neutral in terms of emotions for the Mexican population-modified by the frequency responses of different headphone models (i.e., different frequency content). Twenty-four participants were recruited for this study following a thorough inclusion process. While performing a five-alternative forced-choice psychoacoustic discrimination test (5-FC), the electrical activity of participants was recorded before and 30 days after exposure to pink noise. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were compared to the 5-FC outcome. The results indicated a greater area under the curve of ERPs in participants assigned to the headphone model group that negligibly modified the frequency content of pink noise. A greater area could be interpreted as a broader flux of information in the whole cortex, meaning a greater cognitive process for interpreting and discriminating pink noise sound, and a significant contribution to neuroplasticity caused by constant auditory stimulation.
... Several studies have confirmed that BB have a range of effects on behavior and cognition. For example, Le Scouarnec, Brady [5] and Steven et al. suggest that delta and theta band frequencies BB can reduce anxiety, promote deep meditation and increase hypnotic susceptibility; Lane [6] et al. demonstrated that beta BB helped increase alertness as well as improve mood; Carlo Lovati's team demonstrated that theta and alpha BB improved migraines [7]; Gerardo Gálvez et al. applied 14 Hz BB in a double-blind randomized controlled study in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and showed that beta-band frequencies BB can effectively affect brain activity and improve cognitive performance in Parkinson's patients [8]; In addition, previous work in children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has shown that beta BB can also be used in brainwave induction therapy for ADHD and has a facilitative effect on the behavioral performance of children with ADHD [9]; Hessel Engelbregt et al. examined the effects of 40 Hz BB and monaural beats (MB) stimulation on attention and working memory in high and low mood participants and found that participants' reaction times were faster when receiving 40 Hz BB, possibly due to the increased speed of attentional processing by gamma-frequency BB [10]. ...
Binaural beats (BB), in which pure tones are delivered at fixed frequency, seek to influence neural activity during cognitive tasks and induce frequency-following response which can entrain brain rhythms to the frequency of external stimulation. An increasing number of studies have suggested that BB can be used to alter or enhance cognitive processes. This study aimed to explore the effect of 40 Hz binaural beats on working memory. In addition to further verifying whether there was a frequency-following response, changes in microstates were observed, providing new evidence for the effectiveness of binaural beats. 40 healthy volunteers completed visuospatial and verbal working memory tasks when listening to pink noise and 40 Hz binaural beats (R: 440 Hz, L: 400 Hz). The EEG was analyzed in terms of behavioral performance, relative power, Higuchi fractal dimension (HFD) and microstates after BB stimulation. We found that subjects performed better on the working memory task when stimulated by 40 Hz binaural beats, with significantly higher HFD in the temporal and parietal lobes and a significant positive correlation between HFD and relative power in the gamma band, in addition to a significant increase in the duration and coverage of microstate D and a significant decrease in those of microstate A. Our results demonstrate that 40 Hz binaural beats improve working memory, and induce frequency-following responses. Besides, changes in both HFD and microstates are correlated with attention, which may also account for the changes in working memory performance affected by 40 Hz binaural beats.
... Первый трек был откалиброван на альфа-частотах (12 Гц), второй -на тета-частотах (7,8 Гц). В результате наблюдалось умеренное прогрессирующее уменьшение головной боли у всех пациентов со средним снижением частоты мигрени с 14,9 до 13,3 дней в месяц [29]. ...
Sound has enormous influence on human organism. Different types of sound vibrations have both positive and negative effects on peoples health. This review highlights that sound is important factor for health regulation with the emphasis on cognitive functions and mental activity. Also, we describe strategies of using sound in treatment of neurological diseases, anxiety disorders, depressions, and social rehabilitation. Sound influence and its exploit are examined on different levels: ultrasound, infrasound, white noise, music and nature sounds. Finally, our review has shown sound great potential in treatment of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, carpal tunnel syndrome, postoperative rehabilitation, and cognitive functions improvement. We propose the implementation of acoustic monitoring and music therapy as substantial components of rehabilitation medicine.
... Similar to music therapy, BBT also aimed to relieve tinnitus distress. Binaural sounds have been widely used to promote relaxation and enhance attention [51], reduce migraine [45], and improve memory [21], and task performance [53]. It seems that BBT is a promising acoustic therapy for tinnitus, as well. ...
Background
Tinnitus is an auditory condition with no effective treatments. Seven of the 25 most widely used treatment are sound based therapies, but no methods to select an appropriate one have been established.
Method
Therefore, this investigation aimed to establish a method to select an appropriate acoustic therapy by finding comparable psycho-neurological effects. For that purpose, 71 Mexican volunteers (60 tinnitus sufferers and 11 controls) followed one of five two-month treatments that aimed to (1) diminish the level of attention towards tinnitus via neuro-modulation, (2) habituate to tinnitus by retraining or (3) to relieve distress (binaural beats and music). From the treatment outcomes, six features were defined: (1) hearing loss, (2) anxiety level, (3) stress level, (4) overall amount of neural electrical response to acoustic therapy, (5) EEG channel wherefrom the maximum neural response was obtained, and (6) assigned group. Then, a cluster analysis based on the k-means method was undertaken.
Results
As a result, a strong structure (silhouette measure = 0.798) of six clusters showed that tinnitus sufferers who reported diminution of stress and anxiety, and no side effects, mainly proceeded from neuro-modulation treatments. Furthermore, most of tinnitus sufferers who reported increase of anxiety mainly proceeded from tinnitus retraining and binaural beats. Finally, tinnitus sufferers who only reported anxiety diminution mainly proceeded from tinnitus retraining and music therapy.
Conclusion
Taken together, these findings are a guideline to select an appropriate therapy according to clinical history and psycho-neurological effects, what has not been proposed until now.
Psychiatric problems have been commonly reported in patients with migraine. This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) in patients with migraine.
Subjects were recruited from a headache clinic and a neuropsychologist examined their GAD using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus Version 5.0.0 (MINI). Subjects completed several instruments, including the GAD-7, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS), the Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6), and the Migraine-Specific Quality of Life (MSQoL).
Among 146 participants, 32 patients (21.9 %) had GAD as determined by the MINI. Cronbach’s α for the GAD-7 and GAD-2 were 0.915 and 0.820, respectively. At a cutoff score of 5, the GAD-7 had a sensitivity of 78.1 %, a specificity of 74.6 %, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 46.3 %, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 92.4 %. At a cutoff score of 1, the GAD-2 had a sensitivity of 84.4 %, a specificity of 72.8 %, a PPV of 46.6 %, and a NPV of 94.3 %. The scores of the GAD-7 and GAD-2 well correlated with the BAI score, the MIDAS score, the HIT-6 score, and the MSQoL score.
The GAD-7 and GAD-2 are both reliable and valid screening instruments for GAD in patients with migraine.
Psychiatric problems have been commonly reported in patients with migraine. This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-2) in patients with migraine.
Patients with migraine (with or without aura) were consecutively recruited from our headache clinic. They completed several instruments, including the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus Version 5.0.0 (MINI), the PHQ-9, the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS), the Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6), and the Migraine-Specific Quality of Life (MSQoL).
Among 132 participants, 39 patients (29.5 %) had a major depressive disorder (MDD) as determined by the MINI. Cronbach's α coefficients for the PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 were 0.894 and 0.747, respectively. At a cutoff score of 7, the PHQ-9 had a sensitivity of 79.5 %, a specificity of 81.7 %, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 64.6 %, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 90.5 %. At a cutoff score of 2, the PHQ-2 had a sensitivity of 66.7 %, a specificity of 90.3 %, a PPV of 74.3 %, and a NPV of 86.6 %. The scores of the PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 well correlated with the BDI-II score, the MIDAS score, the HIT-6 score, and the MSQoL score.
The PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 are both reliable and valid screening instruments for MDD in patients with migraine.
Auditory beat stimulation may be a promising new tool for the manipulation of cognitive processes and the modulation of mood states. Here, we aim to review the literature examining the most current applications of auditory beat stimulation and its targets. We give a brief overview of research on auditory steady-state responses and its relationship to auditory beat stimulation (ABS). We have summarized relevant studies investigating the neurophysiological changes related to ABS and how they impact upon the design of appropriate stimulation protocols. Focusing on binaural-beat stimulation, we then discuss the role of monaural- and binaural-beat frequencies in cognition and mood states, in addition to their efficacy in targeting disease symptoms. We aim to highlight important points concerning stimulation parameters and try to address why there are often contradictory findings with regard to the outcomes of ABS.