Meningkatkan Aktivitas Memori Kerja Berbantuan Binaural Beats

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menginvestigasi dampak pemberian stimulus binaural beats (BB) terhadap aktivitas memori kerja (working memory). Penelitian ini menggunakan metode eksperimen menggunakan studi kasus satu kesempatan (studi kasus satu kesempatan). Penelitian ini melibatkan 30 responden yang terdiri dari laki-laki dan perempuan berusia 18-20 tahun. Para partisipan akan melakukan dua kali pembacaan artikel ilmiah yang berbeda dengan tingkat kognitif yang sama. Pengambilan data pertama dilakukan tanpa memberikan stimulus apa pun, sementara pengambilan data kedua dilakukan dengan memberikan stimulus berupa BB dengan frekuensi 15Hz. Data dikumpulkan dari hasil perekaman perekaman elektroensefalografi (EEG) kemudian diolah menggunakan EEGLab untuk menghitung nilai Kerapatan Spektrum Daya (Power Spectral Density / PSD). Rata-rata nilai PSD sebelum dan setelah stimulus dihitung secara statistika dengan melakukan Paired Sample T Test. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan antara nilai rata-rata PSD sebelum dan sesudah diberikan stimulus. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa BB dapat memberikan dampak terhadap peningkatan kinerja memori pada aktivitas membaca artikel ilmiah.

Personalized Theta and Beta Binaural Beats for Brain Entrainment: An Electroencephalographic Analysis

Binaural beats (BB) consist of two slightly distinct auditory frequencies (one in each ear), which are differentiated with clinical electroencephalographic (EEG) bandwidths, namely, delta, theta, alpha, beta, or gamma. This auditory stimulation has been widely used to module brain rhythms and thus inducing the mental condition associated with the EEG bandwidth in use. The aim of this research was to investigate whether personalized BB (specifically those within theta and beta EEG bands) improve brain entrainment. Personalized BB consisted of pure tones with a carrier tone of 500 Hz in the left ear together with an adjustable frequency in the right ear that was defined for theta BB (since fc for theta EEG band was 4.60 Hz ± 0.70 SD) and beta BB (since fc for beta EEG band was 18.42 Hz ± 2.82 SD). The adjustable frequencies were estimated for each participant in accordance with their heart rate by applying the Brain-Body Coupling Theorem postulated by Klimesch. To achieve this aim, 20 healthy volunteers were stimulated with their personalized theta and beta BB for 20 min and their EEG signals were collected with 22 channels. EEG analysis was based on the comparison of power spectral density among three mental conditions: (1) theta BB stimulation, (2) beta BB stimulation, and (3) resting state. Results showed larger absolute power differences for both BB stimulation sessions than resting state on bilateral temporal and parietal regions. This power change seems to be related to auditory perception and sound location. However, no significant differences were found between theta and beta BB sessions when it was expected to achieve different brain entrainments, since theta and beta BB induce relaxation and readiness, respectively. In addition, relative power analysis (theta BB/resting state) revealed alpha band desynchronization in the parieto-occipital region when volunteers listened to theta BB, suggesting that participants felt uncomfortable. In conclusion, neural resynchronization was met with both personalized theta and beta BB, but no different mental conditions seemed to be achieved.

Relax App: Designing Mobile Brain-Computer Interface App to Reduce Stress among Students

Students especially at universities undergo a lot of pressure and stress, and mental health is something that must not be taken lightly, especially at the time of pandemic as we are experiencing now. The need for us to look into the mental health is constantly reminded everywhere. There are a lot of ways to reduce stress such as meditation, getting involved in sports and one of the most practiced methods is by listening to music. Music has been indeed proved to have positive effects on humans and that it aids healing process such as binaural beats and Solfeggio frequency. These frequencies of music have impact towards the brainwave. This study reports on how the design thinking process was used to better identify the most suitable means on integrating mobile Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) as an application to know the impacts of different type of frequencies of music on the human brain to reduce stress. Besides suggesting a generic guideline to develop an application for mobile BCI, this study also provides us insights into the readiness of mobile BCI as an application for common usage.

The Efficacy of Theta Binaural Beat on the Absolute Power of Theta Activity in Individuals With Primary Insomnia

Introduction: The pattern of brain waves in primary insomniacs is different from healthy subjects. Studies have shown that binaural beats can alter the pattern of brain waves in healthy individuals, but the efficacy of binaural beats in altering the pattern of brain waves in primary insomniacs has not yet been investigated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of theta binaural beat on the absolute power of theta activity in primary insomniacs. Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial with experimental and control groups. Primary insomniacs received theta binaural beats in the experimental group and white noise in the control group. Their brain waves were recorded by EEG for 25 minutes, the first 5 minutes without stimulus (1st block), 15 minutes after receiving stimulus (binaural beat or white noise), and the last 5 minutes without stimulus (5th block). Matlab software (R2019a), EEGLAB toolbox and SPSS-24 were used for data analysis. Results: The absolute power of theta activity in the experimental group was significantly higher in the last block comparing to the first block in all brain lobes (P< 0.05). The largest changes in theta activity were in temporal and parietal lobes, and the last one was in prefrontal lobe. In the control group, none of the brain lobes showed significant difference in the last block compared to the first block. Conclusion: Theta binaural beat can alter the absolute power of theta activity in primary insomniacs. The implications of the study are discussed.

Effects of binaural and monaural beat stimulation on attention and EEG

Nowadays a popular technique to improve mood and cognition is auditory beat stimulation (ABS), which is thought to induce a frequency-following response of brainwaves. The main types of ABS are monaural beats (MB) and binaural beats (BB). BB involves the presentation of a specific frequency to one ear and another frequency to the other ear which may induce neural entrainment. A difference between the frequencies of 40 Hz is assumed to improve cognition. The present study examined the effect of 40 Hz binaural beats (BB) and monaural beats (MB) on attention and electroencephalography (EEG). A total of 25 first-year psychology students (11 males, 14 females) performed a Flanker task while EEG was recorded during the 5 min-presentation of pink noise (PN), MB and BB. With respect to attention, as measured by the Flanker task, the number of false responses in the BB condition was smaller than that in the PN condition while the number of false responses in the MB condition was larger as compared to the PN condition. As there was no association of BB with a consistent increase in absolute 40 or 45 Hz power compared to PN or MB, EEG recordings could not confirm the hypothesized neural entrainment in the brain. Overall, the current findings show that listening to 40 Hz BB improves attention but do not show the occurrence of neural entrainment. Future research is recommended to include a larger sample, to use a broader cognitive test battery and to present auditory beats with a longer duration.