Binaural beats in music therapy interventions for substance addiction treatment: an exploratory study

Abstract

The connection between brain waves (periodic electrical signals from the brain) and the state of a subject’s consciousness has been widely investigated and established. Methods like targeted neurofeedback, the hemi-sync method, meditation, and breathing exercises have been shown to induce certain brainwave frequency patterns which can have a positive impact on important aspects of mental health, such as stress, depression and anxiety. These aspects can be significantly disturbed during substance addiction and constitute significant therapeutic targets due to their strong association with craving and relapse. As music therapy (MT) interventions are increasingly employed in substance addiction rehabilitation programs for the management and counterbalance of negative affective and mental states, this study sought to explore the potential added therapeutic benefits of binaural beats (BAB), as a means of brainwave entrainment, in active MT interventions for drug addiction treatment. We combined listening to BAB via headphones with a music therapy protocol, to explore the effects of BAB on the distress (along the 3 axes of depression, anxiety and stress), anxiety and craving levels of drug-addicted individuals, as well as on their cardiovascular functions. During the intervention, half of the participants listened to binaural beats enriched with “theta” waves and pink noise via headphones, while the other half of the participants listened only to pink noise. A downward trend was observed in both groups regarding depression, anxiety, stress and heart rate. Depression scores appeared to have a more homogenous distribution in the experimental group compared to the control group, with considerably lower mean depression fluctuations over a period of 7 weeks. Blood pressure measurements appeared to validate the state-anxiety scores of the participants, while craving levels remained stable for both groups. In addition, focus groups were held at the end of each session, were subjective feelings of relaxation were reported in most cases. The study results seem to imply that binaural beats maybe capable of enhancing the therapeutic impact of MT during drug addiction treatment. However, the small sample size does not allow for strong conclusions to be drawn and further studies on the potential benefits of using BAB during MT interventions for substance addiction treatment seem warranted.