Autonomic Nervous System and Theta Binaural Beats (Click for complete study)
Auditory driving of the autonomic nervous system: listening to theta-frequency binaural beats post-exercise increases parasympathetic activation and sympathetic withdrawal
Patrick A. McConnell, Brett Froeliger, Eric L. Garland, Jeffrey C. Ives and Gary A. Sforzo – (November 14, 2014) — Binaural beats are an auditory illusion perceived when two or more pure tones of similar frequencies are presented dichotically through stereo headphones. Although this phenomenon is thought to facilitate state changes (e.g., relaxation), few empirical studies have reported on whether binaural beats produce changes in autonomic arousal. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of binaural beating on autonomic dynamics [heart rate variability (HRV)] during post-exercise relaxation. Subjects (n = 21; 18–29 years old) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study during which binaural beats and placebo were administered over two randomized and counterbalanced sessions (within-subjects repeated-measures design). At the onset of each visit, subjects exercised for 20-min; post-exercise, subjects listened to either binaural beats (‘wide-band’ theta-frequency binaural beats) or placebo (carrier tones) for 20-min while relaxing alone in a quiet, low-light environment. Dependent variables consisted of high-frequency (HF, reflecting parasympathetic activity), low-frequency (LF, reflecting sympathetic and parasympathetic activity), and LF/HF normalized powers, as well as self-reported relaxation. As compared to the placebo visit, the binaural-beat visit resulted in greater self-reported relaxation, increased parasympathetic activation and increased sympathetic withdrawal. By the end of the 20-min relaxation period there were no observable differences in HRV between binaural-beat and placebo visits, although binaural-beat associated HRV significantly predicted subsequent reported relaxation. Findings suggest that listening to binaural beats may exert an acute influence on both LF and HF components of HRV and may increase subjective feelings of relaxation.
Introduction
Binaural beating is an auditory illusion that is perceived when two or more pure-tone sine waves of similar but different frequencies (under 1500 Hz and less than 40 Hz apart) are presented dichotically via stereo headphones (Draganova et al., 2008). For example, if a 510 Hz pure tone is presented to a listener’s right ear while a 500 Hz pure tone is presented to the listener’s left ear, the listener perceives an illusory binaural beat with a frequency (perceived tempo) of 10 Hz. Binaural-beat perception originates in the brainstem’s inferior colliculi (Smith et al., 1975) and superior olivary nuclei (Oster, 1973), where sound signals from each ear are integrated, and continues as the neural impulses travel through the reticular formation up the midbrain to the thalamus (Swann et al., 1982), auditory cortices and other cortical regions (Draganova et al., 2008).
Research findings suggest that music and sound can modulate autonomic arousal through entrainment (Trost and Vuilleumier, 2013; Regaçone et al., 2014). Entrainment is a process through which two autonomous rhythmic oscillators with similar but different fundamental frequencies interact, resonate, and synchronize (Cvetkovic et al., 2009). Classic examples of entrainment include the synchronizing of human sleep-wake cycles to the 24-h cycle of light and dark (Clayton et al., 2005), the synchronization of a heartbeat to a cardiac pacemaker (Cvetkovic et al., 2009), and the use of rhythmic auditory stimulation in the rehabilitation of motor functions (Thaut and Abiru, 2010).
Numerous studies have reported positive effects of purported binaural-beat entrainment on clinically relevant outcomes including: heart rate, blood pressure, electrodermal response, and finger temperature (Kennerly, 2004), performance vigilance and mood (Lane et al., 1998), hypnotic susceptibility (Brady and Stevens, 2000), mental and physical relaxation (Foster, 1990), attention and memory (Kennerly, 1994), depression and mood regulation (Cantor and Stevens, 2009), generalized anxiety (Le Scouarnec et al., 2001), as well as pre-operative anxiety and intra-operative anesthesia requirements (Kliempt et al., 1999; Lewis et al., 2004; Padmanabhan et al., 2005; Dabu-Bondoc et al., 2010). Many of these studies employed the Hemi-Sync® auditory-guidance system (which combines binaural beats, music, pink noise, natural surf sounds, and verbal guidance) which is designed to employ ‘brainwave entrainment’ and facilitate ergotropic (increasing arousal) or trophotropic (decreasing arousal) changes in consciousness (Atwater, 2004). In spite of these prior positive findings, it remains uncertain whether binaural beats alone modulate autonomic arousal. In order to ascertain the clinical effectiveness of binaural beats, they must be experimentally isolated from possible confounding variables such as verbal guidance and instrumental music.
In the present study, we chose to employ theta-frequency (4–7 Hz) binaural beats to facilitate the post-exercise relaxation response. The relaxation response is an innate physiological response characterized by diminished sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity and increased theta-brainwave activity (Benson et al., 1981). Interestingly, it has recently been shown that combining exercise—a practice known to produce anxiolytic effects (Raglin and Morgan, 1987) and improve long-term stress-resiliency (Salmon, 2001)—with subsequent relaxation training significantly reduced blood pressure and post-exercise blood pressure response to a laboratory stressor (Santaella et al., 2006). Therefore, exercise followed by conscious relaxation may provide for a deeper relaxation response than either intervention alone – a finding that might inform treatment for a wide-variety of stress-related conditions. In addition to the aforementioned positive effects of combined exercise and relaxation training, the decision to investigate binaural-beat effects post-exercise was made in an effort to capitalize on known autonomic effects of exercise and exercise-recovery (Parekh and Lee, 2005).
Briefly, exercise serves as an ergotropic stimulus which increases SNS activity (Bricout et al., 2010). In healthy populations, exercise elicits characteristic intensity- and duration-dependent effects which can interact with fitness level (i.e., VO2max; Buchheit and Gindre, 2006). We aimed to induce sympathetic activation via exercise, and then compare the effects of binaural beats to those of a placebo on post-exercise autonomic arousal, as indicated by heart rate variability (HRV) – a sensitive probe of autonomic tone. HRV was chosen as an autonomic probe (opposed to other measures such as event-related potentials or skin conductance) due to the monitor’s low-cost, minimal invasiveness, and portability. Generally, the effects of exercise include increased low-frequency (LF) power [a measure of both parasympathetic (PNS) and sympathetic (SNS) activity] and decreased high-frequency (HF) power (reflecting PNS activity) relative to pre-exercise values, with the net effect of increasing sympathetic dominance (i.e., LF/HF ratio; Parekh and Lee, 2005). Recovery from moderate/intense exercise normally involves an acute reduction in LF power and an increase in HF power, which then typically return to near baseline levels within 30-min to an hour – resulting in the eventual restoration of baseline sympathovagal balance (Terziotti et al., 2001; Gladwell et al., 2010). It is important to note that while exercise-induced increases in SNS activity can be inferred through the LF component of HRV, LF HRV signal is contributed to by both SNS and PNS components – making interpretations based on LF power alone somewhat dubious (Camm et al., 1996). HF HRV signal, however, is considered to be exclusively mediated by PNS. Post-exercise, heart rate decreases towards baseline levels, reputedly through a combination of SNS withdrawal and increased PNS activation (Pierpont and Voth, 2004). For heart rates above 100 bpm, SNS withdrawal dominates; as heart rate falls below 100 bpm, further reductions are primarily mediated by PNS activation (Pierpont and Voth, 2004).
First, we hypothesized that exercise would decrease parasympathetic activity (as measured through decreased HF HRV component) and increase sympathetic activity (as measured through increases in the LF HRV component). Second, we hypothesized that exposure to theta-frequency binaural beats (relative to placebo) would result in increased parasympathetic activity following exercise (increased HF HRV component). Third, we also hypothesized concomitant decreases in the LF HRV component (reflecting a combination of parasympathetic and sympathetic activity), as well as in overall LF/HF ratio – often referred to as sympathovagal balance. Lastly, we hypothesized that binaural beats would facilitate entry into a deeper state of relaxation, with participants reporting increased perceived relaxation during the binaural-beat condition relative to the placebo condition.
Conclusion
Acute exposure to theta-frequency binaural beats in a young, healthy sample of college students resulted in increased parasympathetic activation, increased sympathetic withdrawal, and increased self-reported relaxation post-exercise. Binaural-beat-associated HRV appeared to be more tightly coupled with self-reported relaxation than placebo-associated HRV. These findings support the putative clinical effectiveness of binaural beats in their own right, the effects of which may be synergistically enhanced through combination with other therapeutic factors such as verbal guidance and music..
