Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39910150›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

A parametric investigation of binaural beats for brain entrainment and enhancing sustained attention.

Anastasiia Melnichuk, Robert K Cooper, Larry W Hawk

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Anastasiia MelnichukDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. amelnich@utexas.edu.
Robert K CooperDepartment of Psychology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Larry W HawkDepartment of Psychology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Binaural beats (BBs) have garnered attention as a highly accessible, noninvasive method to enhance cognitive performance, putatively via brain entrainment. However, the few studies that have directly examined the impact of BBs on sustained attention report inconsistent findings, perhaps due to wide variation in methodology. This study experimentally varied BB parameters while testing the effects of BBs on both sustained attention and brain entrainment. 80 undergraduate participants were randomized to 1 of 16 between-subject conditions in a 2 beats frequency (beta or gamma) × 2 carrier tone (340 or 400 Hz) × 2 onset time (before or with task onset) × 2 background masking noise (present or absent) factorial design. Participants completed a 2-visit within-subjects cross-over comparison of BBs vs. control auditory stimulation. EEG data were collected to validate brain entrainment. Gamma frequency BBs with a low carrier tone and white noise background improved general attention performance but did not reduce the vigilance decrement over time, suggesting BBs may modulate other cognitive aspects rather than sustained focus. EEG results confirmed brain entrainment, though entrainment varied with BB parameters and background noise. Further research should explore the interactions between BB parameters to optimize their use for cognitive enhancement.

Indexed as

AttentionAuditory PerceptionBrainAcoustic StimulationAdolescentAdultCognitionCross-Over StudiesElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMaleNoiseYoung AdultBinaural beatsBrainwave entrainmentCognitive enhancementEEGSustained attentionVigilance decrement

Identifiers

PMID39910150
PMCPMC11799511

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.