4 hz binaural beat trial#

Only people who are sensitive to ASMR experience a positive effect such as calmness and excitement 10. However, responses to ASMR may different from person to person. Barratt & Davis’s study on 475 participants, 80% reported that ASMR improved their mood 8. found that listening to ASMR calms subjects much faster than silence by measuring stress levels with EEG, blood pressure, pulse, and questionnaire 9. Sensorimotor experiences associated with ASMR are often accompanied by a sense of being calm, which can be helpful in reducing stress. Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a sensory-emotional phenomenon in which specific auditory, audiovisual, or tactile stimuli elicit tingling sensations on the scalp, neck, and arms 8, 9, 10. Various attempts have been made to reduce the effects of stress using sounds. In addition, stress is a clear trigger for psychiatric disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders 6, 7. In the exhaustion stage, stress can cause vague somatic symptoms and immune deficiency that promote the development of allergic reactions, asthma, and cancer 3, 4, 5. Moderate level of stress is essential for survival, but excessively long and repeated exposure to stressors can lead to an exhaustion stage beyond adequate tension 2. Stress is a transactional process that emerges from real or perceived environmental demands, depending on the availability of an individual’s adaptive coping strategy 1. Unlike BB, ASMR can lead to an increase in beta and high beta waves associated with cortical arousal. Both ASMR and BB are equally effective in reducing stress levels. Changes of absolute beta and high beta power in the ASMR group were larger than those in the BB group ( p = 0.026, p = 0.040, respectively). BDI-II and ISI mean scores were normalized in both groups after the intervention. After the intervention, PSS, BDI-II, ISI, STAI-S, and PSQI scores improved significantly in both groups.

Seventy-six participants (57 female, mean age = 46.12 ± 12.01) finished the trial. QEEG was measured before and after the intervention.

Subjects listened to ASMR or BB with music (8 Hz for daytime, 5 Hz for nighttime) for 15 min in daytime and 30 min before going to sleep for 3 weeks. Subjects with stress were recruited considering their perceived stress scale (PSS), Beck depression inventory-II (BDI-II), insomnia severity index (ISI), and state-trait anxiety inventory-state anxiety (STAI-S) scores.

4 hz binaural beat trial#

A double-blind randomized trial was conducted. This study aimed to compare the effects of Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) and binaural beat (BB) on stress reduction, and to determine whether ASMR and BB can induce changes in quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG).