What are binaural beats and how do they relate to sleeping?

If stress and anxiety are making falling asleep and getting a good night sleep a difficult task, the use of binaural beat technology could be your needed insomnia cure.

Binaural beats result from the combination of two different tones, one being played in each ear through stereo headphones such as SleepPhones. When these two sounds of similar frequencies are played simultaneously, the brain actually integrates the two sounds to form a third — the binaural beat. These binaural beats in turn initiate a change in brain wave activity. Through what is known as the frequency-following response the brain can actually be entrained to follow the audio tones and generate specific binaural beats and a desired brain wave level.

When used to help with sleep, specific tones at set frequencies encourage the brain to gradually slow activity. The binaural tones cause the frequent beta waves that occur when you are awake and active to turn to alpha waves that occur when you're drowsy. The alpha waves then turn to theta waves that happen in light sleep, and finally into delta waves that are present when you're in deep sleep. This practice is referred to as brainwave entrainment. By entraining the brain to slow down its brain waves gradually to the level necessary for sleep, you are more likely to fall asleep quickly and sleep more soundly. Brainwave entrainment has also been proven to help reduce feelings of anxiety that could otherwise interfere with a good night sleep. The frequent practice of brainwave entrainment and continual use of binaural beat technology can make falling asleep easier and easier over a period of time as your brain becomes more entrained. In order to work properly, the audio tones delivered to each ear must be below 1,000 Hertz, and the difference between the two tones must only be slight (less than 30 Hertz). To learn more about binaural beats and to download a free binaural beat track for your SleepPhones click here.