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Today, binaural and monaural beats are offered over the Internet or by mental health institutes to improve wellbeing or cognitive functioning. This improvement is explained by the assumption that the brain adapts its brainwave frequency to the frequency of the auditory beat. The present study examined the effects of binaural and monaural beat stimulation on attention and working memory in high and low emotional participants. A group of 24 participants (16 females, 8 males) between 19 and 31 years old (M = 22.33, SD = 3.42) performed a Flanker task to measure attention and a Klingberg task to measure working memory while listening to white noise (WN), 40 Hz gamma binaural beat (BB) and 40 Hz gamma monaural beat (MB). Speed of performance on all three levels of difficulty of the Flanker attention task was faster under the BB and MB condition than under WN. No differences were found between BB and MB conditions. With respect to the quality of performance on the Flanker attention task and the Klingberg working memory task no significant differences under the WN, MB, and BB condition were found. Finally, as participants with low or high emotionality did not respond differently to BB and MB under any of the conditions, effects of BB and MB seem similar in high and low emotional participants. The present study supports the notion that faster attention processing may equally be attributed to the influence of BB and MB. Further research is recommended to gain more insight in the role of factors such as duration of stimulation of BB and MB, frequency range, most appropriate carrier tones, and the role of personality traits.

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a warm tingling sensation which is often accompanied by feelings of calmness and relaxation. The present study examined the effects of an ASMR video on mood, attention, heart rate (HR), electrodermal activity (EDA), electroencephalography (EEG) and the interaction with personality factors in 38 young adults (33 females and 5 males). Based on the ASMR-checklist responses of having tingles during watching the ASMR video 15 participants out of 38 were classified as ASMR-experiencers. Mood, attention and personality characteristics were measured by the Profile of Mood States, the Flanker task and HEXACO. EEG, HR and EDA were recorded during the ASMR and control videos. Depressive feelings decreased after watching the ASMR video in individuals experiencing tingles relative to those not experiencing tingles. Furthermore, in all participants, irrespective of experiencing tingles, a decrease of HR during watching the ASMR video was found. In ASMR-experiencers scoring low on Conscientiousness EDA tended to increase and HR tended-relatively to the group not experiencing tingles—to decrease during watching the ASMR video. EEG recordings indicated that watching the ASMR video was associated with decreased alpha power in ASMR-sensitive participants and decreased theta as well as increased beta power in the whole group of participants. The observed ASMR-induced decrease of alpha and theta power and increase of beta power and (only in low conscientious participants) EDA may reflect that, apart from relaxation, ASMR is related to arousal and focused attention.

Nowadays a popular technique to improve mood and cognition is auditory beat stimulation (ABS), which is thought to induce a frequency-following response of brainwaves. The main types of ABS are monaural beats (MB) and binaural beats (BB). BB involves the presentation of a specific frequency to one ear and another frequency to the other ear which may induce neural entrainment. A difference between the frequencies of 40 Hz is assumed to improve cognition. The present study examined the effect of 40 Hz binaural beats (BB) and monaural beats (MB) on attention and electroencephalography (EEG). A total of 25 first-year psychology students (11 males, 14 females) performed a Flanker task while EEG was recorded during the 5 min-presentation of pink noise (PN), MB and BB. With respect to attention, as measured by the Flanker task, the number of false responses in the BB condition was smaller than that in the PN condition while the number of false responses in the MB condition was larger as compared to the PN condition. As there was no association of BB with a consistent increase in absolute 40 or 45 Hz power compared to PN or MB, EEG recordings could not confirm the hypothesized neural entrainment in the brain. Overall, the current findings show that listening to 40 Hz BB improves attention but do not show the occurrence of neural entrainment. Future research is recommended to include a larger sample, to use a broader cognitive test battery and to present auditory beats with a longer duration.

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Since early adolescence a 47-year-old male suffers from specific phobia with panic disorder (PD) which is similar to agoraphobia. The panic starts when he crosses the borders of his domicile, regardless of the type of transport. On request of client and his GP, we recorded his EEG during a car trip from his house to a distant village. We aimed to explore underlying EEG changes that may accompany the initiation and the progression of his panic attacks. The panic attack took place during the car-ride where we detected an increase of frontal beta (β) activity (13-26 Hz) and a relatively sudden decrease of frontal-central theta (θ) activity (3-6 Hz). These findings suggest that EEG recordings can be useful to monitor the beginning and the end of a panic attack and may determine the exact EEG changes that initiate a panic attack.

Identifying treatment options for patients with alcohol dependence is challenging. This study investigates the application of real-time functional MRI (rtfMRI) neurofeedback (NF) to foster resistance towards craving-related neural activation in alcohol dependence. We report a double-blind, placebo-controlled rtfMRI study with three NF sessions using alcohol-associated cues as an add-on therapy to the standard treatment. Fifty-two patients (45 male; 7 female) diagnosed with alcohol dependence were recruited in Munich, Germany. RtfMRI data were acquired in three sessions and clinical abstinence was evaluated 3 months after the last NF session. Before the NF training, BOLD responses and clinical data did not differ between groups, apart from anger and impulsiveness. During NF training, BOLD responses of the active group were decreased in medial frontal areas/caudate nucleus, and increased, e.g. in the cuneus/precuneus and occipital cortex. Within the active group, the down-regulation of neuronal responses was more pronounced in patients who remained abstinent for at least 3 months after the intervention compared to patients with a relapse. As BOLD responses were comparable between groups before the NF training, functional variations during NF cannot be attributed to preexisting distinctions. We could not demonstrate that rtfMRI as an add-on treatment in patients with alcohol dependence leads to clinically superior abstinence for the active NF group after 3 months. However, the study provides evidence for a targeted modulation of addiction-associated brain responses in alcohol dependence using rtfMRI.

IntroductionDyfunctions of prefrontal neuronal circuits contribute to the pathophysiology of depression. Previous studies showed increased functional MRI and EEG connectivity in patients with depression. In this study we investigated a large sample of patients with major depression (n=228) and healthy subjects (n=215).MethodsSpectrotemporal dynamics during resting state with closed eyes were analyzed in sensor and source space to examine functional EEG connectivity (fcEEG) alterations between groups. Quantitative measures of delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma power, hemispheric asymmetry, coherence, phase and current source density (CSD, eLORETA) analyses were calculated from artifact-free EEG recordings.ResultsEEG theta power was increased in all brain regions in the group of patients with a focus in frontal regions and increased frontal theta and alpha power. Excessive coherence differences were detected in the delta, theta and alpha-bands in frontal, frontal-temporal and frontal-parietal regions. There were changes in phase differences in the delta, theta, alpha-bands between patients and healthy subjects. Differences in CSD were found for the delta, theta, alpha-band in the (rostral and subgenual) anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) with increased CSD in the patients.ConclusionThe main finding of the present study was an increase in cortical slow-wave activity in sensor and source space in patients with depression revealing marked differences in prefrontal cortical networks. Functional delta, theta and alpha connectivity (coherence and phase) were altered with a predominance in the left hemisphere. Dysfunctions of the ACC, together with alterations in fcEEG may contribute to the pathophysiology of major depression.