The effect of delta binaural beat on sleep onset and maintenance based on EEG signal analysis

Although various conditions such as chronic stress, psychological factors, and medical issues can disrupt sleep quality, non-pharmacological approaches like brainwave entrainment have recently gained attention. Small studies showed that entrainment of brainwaves by binaural beats may improve sleep quality and quantity. In this study, we investigated the effect of delta binaural beats on sleep onset and sleep maintenance using a 174 Hz carrier tone. Twenty healthy students participated in this study for three nights. All subjects were exposed to a binaural beat in the delta frequency range on an experimental night, while there was no intervention on the other two nights. Delta binaural beat did not reduce sleep onset time, but improved sleep maintenance parameters, including increasing the duration of N3 and REM sleep and reducing the amount and number of awakenings. The findings of this study also suggest that delta binaural beats can possibly synchronize EEG rhythms with its frequency to improve sleep maintenance. However, further studies are needed to prove this claim.