Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Chungju, South Korea.
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Chungju, South Korea.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 16;14(1):24220. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-74784-9.
This study aimed to observe the impact of pure Binaural Beats (BB) stimulation in the inaudible frequency range, excluding the influence of sound, on visuospatial memory. Additionally, we investigated whether the brainwave changes induced by BB stimulation directly affect brain activation. The experiment involved 17 participants (12 males with a mean age of 23.2 ± 1.7 and 5 females with a mean age of 21.0 ± 0.7) in their 20s. Each participant received 10 Hz BB stimulation by presenting frequencies of 18,000 Hz and 18,010 Hz to the left and right ears, respectively. The experiment consisted of Rest phase (5 min), Task phase (5 min), and Rest phase (5 min). The Task phase included conditions where participants performed the task either without BB stimulation "Task only" or with BB stimulation "Task + BB". Visuospatial memory was evaluated using the 3-back task. To observe brain activation, functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) was employed to measure hemodynamic responses in all phases. The cognitive task performance (Accuracy, Reaction time) and oxyhemoglobin (HbO) concentration during the Task phase were compared between conditions with and without BB stimulation using paired t-tests. Results indicated a significantly shorter Reaction time in the Task + BB condition compared to the Task only condition. Moreover, an increase in HbO concentration was observed in the F1-F3, F2-F4, and P2-P4 regions during the Task + BB condition. In conclusion, the observed increase in HbO concentration suggests a positive influence on task performance. This study is meaningful in objectively demonstrating the impact of inaudible BB stimulation on visuospatial memory, utilizing both behavioral data and direct neural activation reflected in hemodynamic responses.
本研究旨在观察在不可听频率范围内（排除声音影响）纯双耳节拍（BB）刺激对视觉空间记忆的影响。此外，我们还研究了 BB 刺激引起的脑电波变化是否直接影响大脑激活。该实验涉及 17 名 20 多岁的参与者（12 名男性，平均年龄 23.2±1.7 岁，5 名女性，平均年龄 21.0±0.7 岁）。每位参与者分别通过左耳和右耳呈现 18,000Hz 和 18,010Hz 的频率接受 10Hz 的 BB 刺激。实验包括静息期（5 分钟）、任务期（5 分钟）和静息期（5 分钟）。任务期包括参与者在没有 BB 刺激的情况下执行任务的“仅任务”条件或在有 BB 刺激的情况下执行任务的“任务+BB”条件。使用 3 -back 任务评估视觉空间记忆。为了观察大脑激活，采用功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）在所有阶段测量血液动力学反应。使用配对 t 检验比较有无 BB 刺激条件下任务期的认知任务表现（准确性、反应时间）和氧合血红蛋白（HbO）浓度。结果表明，任务+BB 条件下的反应时间明显短于仅任务条件。此外，在任务+BB 条件下，F1-F3、F2-F4 和 P2-P4 区域的 HbO 浓度增加。总之，观察到 HbO 浓度的增加表明对任务表现有积极影响。本研究通过行为数据和血液动力学反应中直接反映的神经激活，客观地证明了不可听 BB 刺激对视觉空间记忆的影响，具有重要意义。
