In the last piece I wrote, I showed that a mouth guard could increase your strength by 10% while also biohacking your breath. If interested to read that article please open it here. 

But what if I could biohack my brain? It is actually easier than you think. This hack might sound weird, pun intended but all you need are headphones to utilize the effects of Binaural Beats…

Binaural beats is to take two different tones combining them to make the brain perceive a 3rd sound. This 3rd sound influences your brain waves. These brain waves are in turn associated with different activities. Meaning if I play a delta wave tone of .5 to 3 Hz the brain enters a more meditative state. If the “tone” is increased to theta 3-8Hz we have more of a dream state.

Alpha waves 8-12 Hz are extremely interesting due to the fact that they can affect our dopamine levels. And seems to aid our learning. After alpha we have beta waves(12-38Hz) which are associated with our normal state and thinkin, but causes us to use more energy.

 

Lastly we have gamma waves, 38 to 42Hz and it seems science lack a deep understanding of these brain waves. But I found a webpage that was talking about spiritual emergence as these brain waves seem to appear when our mind is quiet. Which is of course interesting, and needs more investigation.

Interestingly, a search on PubMed reveals a lot research on binaural beats. And it reveals that it doesn’t work for all. It works for me, I use delta and theta waves to relax and I use beta and gamma to help me focus when I am working on the computer.

A study from PubMed confirms my anecdote of relaxation post exercise.

As I learn more I will add more references and clean up this article. If you are interested in rhythmic entrainment of the brain please give the website https://mynoise.net/ a good look. There is more than just binaural beats, they have even developed something that might be a alternative treatment for tinnitus.

As a biohacker and teacher I would like to conduct research on binaural beats and students. Many years ago I suggested to a friend that he should try binaural beats. A few months later he contacts me to tell me that he quits his ADHD medicine and that it was the first time in a long time that he could maintain a job for a longer time. So it doesn’t hurt to try and all you need are headphones and some tunes.

Hope you like this article!

References:

“Auditory driving of the autonomic nervous system: Listening to … – NCBI.” 14 Nov. 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25452734. Accessed 30 Sep. 2018.

“What are Brainwaves – BrainWorks ….” https://brainworksneurotherapy.com/what-are-brainwaves. Accessed 30 Sep. 2018.