On the binaural brain entrainment indicating lower heart rate variability

Products based on binaural beat technology are popular as these claim to relax the user by altering (i.e.entraining) the brain?s neuronal rhythm and a Google search will result in more than a million hits [1]. Whilst this is possible in certain approaches, for example in photic frequency following effects such as in braincomputer interfaces [2]; binaural brain entrainments uses two beats (usually sinusoidal tones) that are different in frequency by a small amount that generates a third pseudo-rhythm at the difference of the two frequencies [3]. Furthermore, binaural brain entrainment is also claimed to allow altered states of consciousness and hemispheric synchronisation [4]. However, the effects of this entrainment on the cardiac rhythm appear to be understudied, though equally important as the effects on the brain. Hence, the investigation here is set out with this aim.