Do binaural beats tune your brainwaves?
MixedClaim: "Binaural beats tune your brainwaves to any desired frequency"
A meta-analysis of 22 studies found a medium overall effect (Hedges' g = 0.45) on anxiety, memory, attention and pain. But a 2023 systematic review found binaural beats do not reliably entrain brain oscillations at all — so the headline "tune your brainwaves to X Hz" story is shaky, even where a calming effect shows up. Cognitive effects are mixed across studies. Real but modest, mechanism uncertain, person-dependent — and only over headphones, since each ear needs its own tone.
Sources
- The effects of neuromodulation through brainwave entrainment on pain in women with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled clinical trial with Follow-Up. 10.1093/pm/pnag064 PubMed 42116620
- Preoperative binaural beats reduce remimazolam dosage and enhance safety in anesthesia induction: A randomized controlled trial. 10.1371/journal.pone.0345960 PubMed 41911215
- The Effect of Binaural Sound on the Occurrence of Emergence Delirium in Children Undergoing Strabismus Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial. 10.1002/pan.70137 PubMed 41646000
- Alpha-EEG/EMG neurofeedback combined with binaural beats stimulation: A randomized placebo-controlled within-subject cross over study. 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2026.113337 PubMed 41621596