Binaural Beats

[Tomteverkstan]

I have no idea how to start this post, but here we go.
I've recently come across something quite interesting called binaural beats, which appearently can affect a persons state like relaxation, alertness and even fear. I have no idea how effective this is but I'm here to ask.
I'm in the "game business" and we discussed a while ago a horrorgame and I thought of this technique to induce fear into the player where fear was intended and relaxation where that was intended.
I was wondering exactly how this would affect a person, could it be dangerous for him? How fast could a one's mind be entrained?

Thank you.

[SWM]

i dont know enough about this but i could see how it might be dangerous. i suppose how dangerous would depend on the degree to which you induced fear.

games and movies already use music to regulate emotion. think of the classic scene from the psycho movie, the chilling screeching music is just as memorable as the images of the shadowy figure weilding a knife.

like i said i really dont know enough but i geuss the problem i imagine is with with the binaural beats facilitating a trance like state or an altered reality, and then flooding this altered reality with fear which may have undesirable consequences.

probably more so for people with health conditions such as epilepsy, heart irregularities or people prone to paranoia or mania.

these kind of issues would need to be researched properly.

[pert -5]

Binaural Beats and Brainwave Entrainment are relatively unexplored fields in the science community.  There's a good deal of information floating around the internet (as I'm sure you already know), but I would supplement those findings with your own research--a lot of your own research.  Then SWM has posted some concerns, the investigation of which would take you into even further uncharted waters.

Here's a page regarding the subject:
http://www.web-us.com/thescience.htm

And another interesting page:
http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2008/09/this-is-your-brain-on-binaural-beats/

I was interested in this very subject a while back, but I've since directed my energies toward "other things."  So good luck, let us know what you come up with.

[edit]
I just found one of the sites that I used to frequent a lot when I was researching this topic.  Hope it helps.

http://www.neuroacoustic.com/

[Enigma]

Only experience I've had with binaural beats is I-doser.  Shit sucked, just use real drugs.  Also you need a good pair of stereo headphones to use them properly,

[Tomteverkstan]

Thank you for input. It feels, as you both said, it needs research. Was looking around on google about supposed dangers of brainwave entrainment and got just that warning that it also could make sensitive persons seizure, which is not the kind of fear we intented to induce. But I also read an article about binaural beats and people using it as drugs, which made me take about any internet-fact about it with a grain of salt.
The seizure bit seems plausable though, thinking that flashing lights have that effect on sensitive persons and is probably also effecting brainwaves.

And to be clear, not interested in this because of the supposed drugeffect.

Thanks again, if something concrete turns up I'll drop a reply.

[pert -5]

Thanks again, if something concrete turns up I'll drop a reply.

Cool.

[dendrites]

in my opinion, there is "enough" evidence in the scientific community to say that binaural beats do in fact work.

but there are more powerful types of beats like isochronic and monaural tones, which lead to more powerful brainwave entrainment effects.

brainwave entrainment has been used by researchers to help with EEG therapy, such as for concentration improvement, helping with learning disorders, OCD and the like.

As fo your particular query of using it in a horror situation - I wouldn't recommend it for people with epilepsy or those who are prone to seizures. If something is scary enough as it is, making the impact more severe by manipulating brainwaves might lead to unwanted mental symptoms

better to play it on the safe side in case something untoward happens

[pert -5]

in my opinion, there is "enough" evidence in the scientific community to say that binaural beats do in fact work.

Can you post some of this "evidence" or cite some sources?  I'd really like to see them.

[dendrites]

I would cite sources but because Im new here, I dont want to post any links...

Very briefly though, you can try searching "Psychological Effects Of Brainwave Entrainment: A Comprehensive Review"

its more brainwave entrainment in general - ie isochronic and binaural beats

hope it helps

in any case, I think there still needs to be "more" research done. There' still some grey areas and cases where results weren't as strong as they could have been

personally, I've used binaurals and isochronics for years and definitely believe it isn't placebo. If you believe otherwise I respect that. Binaurals and brainwave entrainment doesn't have the same level of "research" shall we say as other tools like subliminals or other tools out there so more work does need done

[NataEames]

Binaural beats, hmm. I once downloaded a few flac. files and had a migraine for the next 2 days.
Don't know if that is will all such programs or if i was just screwed.

[dendrites]

hi nata.

.flac files in my opinion arent as "lossless" as some people say they are - which is a shame. I always tend to find I get better "gains" as it were with the original .mp3 or .wav versions

as a matter of interest, which particular programs were you using and what were the designed for? Also how long were you listening to them? most binaurals need to be used for 30 mins minimum and certainly no more than 1 hour

[NataEames]

It was a while ago so i don't really remember where i got them (some website and possibly torrents). I listened for about 15 minutes to 30 minutes (until my migraine started).

Maybe I was doing something wrong. Then again, how many different ways can you listen to an audio file? LOL

[voodoo scientist]

I would cite sources but because Im new here, I dont want to post any links...

Very briefly though, you can try searching "Psychological Effects Of Brainwave Entrainment: A Comprehensive Review"

This is some fairly weird logic, but this must be the article he's talking about, a meta-study of 20 other studies (I don't have time to review the study itself).

While I can't rule out future use, I would not advise using binaurals for entertainment given our understanding of it today. You'll end up causing more migraines than anything, I think. It's barely even fringe psychological as it is, even if research may show promise.

[pert -5]

This is some fairly weird logic

LOL!  You thought so too.

[edit: Poor, poor punctuation.]