Running Head: HOW BINAURAL BEATS CAN HELP

How Binaural Beats Can Help Students Write

Justin Mays
Nevada State College

HOW BINAURAL BEATS CAN HELP

Abstract
This research project was conducted to better understand the effects of using
binaural beats to help students overcome stress and boost their creativity. The forms of
evidence used were survey reports and a creative writing task using binaural beats to
prove these should be part of the learning process for students wanting to manage their
stress and raise their creativity. Binaural beats, a natural reaction occurring in the brain
when two similar sound frequencies are played in both ears, have many positive effects
on the learning and writing process.

HOW BINAURAL BEATS CAN HELP

How Binaural Beats Can Help Students Write

Writing has been, and will most likely always be, an integral part of the learning
process. Throughout their educational careers students are asked to write many papers
and deal with deadlines for those papers, which leads to stress and frustration. There are
many ways to cope with that stress however this paper will concentrate on the use of
binaural beats and their effect on the writing process.
Students should integrate binaural beats into their writing process because they
have many positive effects that connect with the writing centers of the brain. Binaural
beats are created in the brain by using similar sound frequencies played in both ears. The
use of this sound format has been shown to lower stress levels and boost creativity, issues
with which many students need help. When a student is required to write a paper several
things happen within their brain that hinders the writing process. These events may occur
differently for each student however they have similarities.
The ability to understand a topic and transfer its concepts to paper is both an art
and a science. In order to accomplish this, students are offered many avenues of help such
as tutors, workshops and writing centers. Through these, students are often able to
improve their writing skills, however, these avenues of help concentrate on formatting,
research and time management. They do not take into consideration the stress levels of
the student nor how creative they may be. Binaural beats are a good tool for dealing with
the stress and creativity of a student. Research that has been conducted, and my
experiments, show the usefulness of the beats.

HOW BINAURAL BEATS CAN HELP

People have found many ways to deal with stress and it is understood that
meditation is one of best ways to cope with this problem. An experiment conducted in
2011 entitled, A Quantitative Electroencephalographic Study of Meditation and Binaural
Beat Entrainment by Lavallee, Koren, & Persinger, consisted of experienced and novice
meditation enthusiasts listening to the beats and then describing their experiences. Both
sets of participants listened to the same sounds for the same length of time, but had very
different experiences. When interviewed, the seasoned enthusiasts expressed there was no
noticeable change to their (session session doesnt make sense; what was it that
didnt change?) however, the inexperienced participants had very different experiences.
The novice group explained they felt waves of energy, bliss and connections with the
universe. (Christina, et al., 2011)(Pg. 351).
The ability to clear ones head and allow stress to drain from the mind is one of
the main points of meditation. The seasoned meditators trained for many years to achieve
this effect. Binaural beats are like a shortcut to clearing the mind. Once a students mind
is clear of stress they are able to concentrate more efficiently and stay on task longer.
Being able to work more quickly will help a student meet deadlines on a more regular
basis thus lowering their stress level even more.
When a student needs to produce a paper, they might work extremely quickly,
however if they are not creative the paper may lack in subject and context. Research has
been done, looking into binaural beats as a form of creative muse. One such study,
conducted by Reedijk, Bolders & Hommel in 2013 entitled, The impact of Binaural
Beats on Creativity stated, They can be effective in enhancing brainstorm-like creative

HOW BINAURAL BEATS CAN HELP

thinking in individuals with low striatal dopamine levels. Although this refers to people
with low dopamine levels, it is clear that binaural beats can help the writing process.
The science behind binaural beats is easy to understand because it is a function of
the brain that happens naturally when different frequencies are played.
When students are under stress they are unable to use their time wisely. Binaural
beats are simply sounds that, once they enter the brain, trick the brain into making an
internal sound that is slightly offset from other sounds. According to the Monroe
Institute, The sensation of auditory binaural beats occurs when two coherent sounds of
nearly similar frequencies are presented, one to each ear, with stereo headphones or
speakers. The brain integrates the two signals, producing the sensation of a third sound
called the binaural beat. For example, if a frequency of 100 Hz is played in one ear and
107 Hz is played in the other ear, a binaural beat of 7 Hz is created by the brain. Brain
waves match or follow the binaural beat. If the binaural beat is 7 Hz, an increase in
brain waves of 7 Hz occurs. (Monroeinstitute.org (2014).
Once the beats are played the brain neurologically sends them to the reticular area
that makes the neurotransmitters change the brainwaves to a more calm and creative
state. During this state of calm is when it is best to form ideas and start the writing
process.
The research I conducted showed a clear effect of the beats on what?) The first
form of information gathering I conducted was a creativity test during which the subject
wrote a haiku after a 20-minute meditation session. The next day the same subject was
asked to use the beats for a 20-minute session and write a second haiku. Both of the
poems were sent to a language professor for analysis. Both poems are good but the

HOW BINAURAL BEATS CAN HELP

second one was clearly deeper then the first and seemed well thought out (Peacher-Hall,
(2014).
The poems are shown below, the first using the beats:
My cat is so soft
She is warm and purrs a lot
She makes me happy
The second, using the beats:
The ocean is deep
It hides my soul down below
Dive deep to find the truth

The second form of data collection used for this paper was a survey, sent to a large group
of people. The graphs below show the findings:
Question One: Do you know what binaural beats are?

HOW BINAURAL BEATS CAN HELP

Question Two: Have you ever used binaural beats to help with writing?

Question Three: What types of sounds do you listen to while writing?

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Question Four: If you found out that binaural beats could help you lower stresses levels
and help you be more creative would you use them?

Although the survey results do not show that people are using binaural beats it does show
that if they had access to the beats they would use them to help in their writing.
A lot more research needs to be done on the subject of binaural beats, however, from the
research I have conducted I believe that adding the practice of using binaural beats while
writing, would improve the quality of students papers and articles. Students are
constantly faced with tasks they must accomplish by a specific date. The use of
meditation combined with binaural beats would allow students to lower their levels of

HOW BINAURAL BEATS CAN HELP

stress. I believe that if writing centers and workshops utilized the binaural beat tool,
students would feel more confident, and thus would produce written work of higher
quality, at a faster rate. Students need to grow in a positive way and if binaural beats
could help with that growth, there would be an increase in stress-free students, getting
higher grades.
During my research I came across a few articles, which claimed that binaural
beats were useless and only had a placebo effect. One paper even stated that using the
beats would mix up the brain waves and cause the user to lose their mind and become a
bumbling, worthless person. Other research expressed the idea that binaural beats,
because they affect dopamine production, can make the user suicidal or violent. This
idea, that sound waves might cause the user to suffer, seems a little far-fetched. While the
beats do interact with the dopamine producing and receiving areas of the brain, the idea
that sound waves can do that much just does not have enough solid research to back it up.

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References
Chuter, E. E., Allan, M. M., & Laws, D. D. (2007). A pilot study comparing reduction of
anxiety by binaural beat audio and patient-selected music in the pre-operative
period. Anesthesia, 62(3), 310. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2044.2006.04944_12.x
Cruceanu, V.D., & Rotarescu, V . S (2013). Alpha brainwave entertainment as a cognitive
performance activator. Cognitie, Creier, Comportament/Cognition, Brain,
Goodin, P., Ciorciari, J., Baker, K., Carrey, A., Harper, M., & Kaufman, J. (2012). A
High-Density EEG Investigation into Steady State Binaural Beat
Stimulation. Plos ONE, 7(4), 1-8. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034789
Lavallee, C. F., Koren, S. A., & Persinger, M. A. (2011). A Quantitative
Electroencephalographic Study of Meditation and Binaural Beat
Entrainment. Journal Of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 17(4), 351-355.
doi:10.1089/acm.2009.0691
Padmanabhan, R. R., Hildreth, A. J., & Laws, D. D. (2005). A prospective, randomized,
controlled study examining binaural beat audio and pre-operative anxiety in
patients undergoing general anesthesia for day case surgery.Anaesthesia, 60(9),
874-877. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2044.2005.04287.x
Peacher-Hall, D (2014,November 23) is there a difference between the two haiku's
[Interview]. Retrieved November 23,2014 from personal email.

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Reedijk, S., Bolders, A., & Hommel, B. (2013, November 14). The impact of binaural
beats on creativity. Retrieved November 23, 2014, from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3827550/
What are Binaural Beats? (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2014, from
http://www.monroeinstitute.org/resources/what-are-binaural-beats

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