DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i06.044

Pages: 2250-2255

Background: Binaural beats (BB) are auditory illusions perceived when 2 sinusoidal waves of slightly different frequencies are presented to both ears separately. BB modulates physiological & cognitive processes through cortical entrainment. BB within EEG frequency range entrains EEG activity & affects various cognitive domains of brain. Objectives: Aim of this study is to see whether a single session of 20 minute duration exposure to 40Hz BB has any positive effect on cognitive performance in healthy subjects. Methods: Study was conducted on 28 subjects (15 males and 13 females) with age between 18 to 28 years in 2 sessions. Selective attention & cognitive flexibility where tested using Normal Reaction Time & Interference Reaction Time of Eriksen Arrow Flanker’s conflict task. In each session, NRT & IRT were noted before and after applying either 40Hz Binaural beats or pink noise. Baseline & Post intervention scores within each subject for both BB & Pink noise session were compared and analysed using paired sample T- test. Results: Our study showed a statistically significant decrease in NRT and IRT after entraining with 40Hz BB compared to pink noise. Conclusions: This study suggests single session of 40Hz Binaural beats stimulation for 20 minutes can improves cognitive performance levels in healthy subjects.