NCT07407426

EEG-Guided Binaural Beat Audio to Reduce Performance-Related Stress and Improve Cognition

Effects of EEG-guided Binaural Beat Audio Intervention on Brain Reactivity Associated With Performance-related Stress and Cognition Among Professional Musicians: A Randomized, Double-blinded, Sham-controlled Functional Neuroimaging Trial

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 32 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Performance-related stress can impair sustained attention, inhibitory control, and memory. This randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled parallel-arm trial evaluates whether a 30-minute EEG-guided binaural beat audio intervention reduces subjective stress/performance anxiety and improves cognition, and whether it changes task-related brain reactivity measured by fMRI. The intervention uses real-time single-electrode EEG recorded over the left prefrontal cortex to dynamically adjust binaural beat frequencies to guide the brain toward a target state; the sham condition uses non-binaural music delivered through identical headphones. Adult music majors preparing for an upcoming concert will complete pre- and post-intervention fMRI sessions during cognitive/music tasks (Stop Signal Reaction Task, Music Reading Task, Music Memory Retrieval Task) and complete visual analog scales (VAS) assessing performance anxiety, stress, and related subjective states. The primary outcomes include fMRI task-related activity in stress-regulation regions (dlPFC, amygdala, hippocampus), behavioral inhibition indices from the stop-signal task, music memory retrieval accuracy, and VAS-reported stress/performance anxiety.

Detailed description

This study will test the efficacy and neurophysiologic mechanism of a novel EEG-guided binaural beat audio intervention for mitigating performance-related stress and enhancing cognition in musicians. The study is conducted at Texas Tech University (recruitment/screening/analysis) with neuroimaging and cognitive task data collection at the Texas Tech Neuroimaging Institute (TTNI). Participants complete a single in-person visit (\~3 hours) including consent and eligibility screening, task training, pre-intervention VAS and fMRI scanning, randomization to intervention or sham, a 30-minute audio session, post-intervention fMRI scanning, and post-intervention VAS. The experimental audio intervention uses a proprietary algorithm with real-time EEG feedback from a single electrode over the left prefrontal cortex to dynamically adjust binaural beat frequencies during a 30-minute session delivered through headphones. The sham comparator uses non-binaural audio (music without interaural frequency differences) delivered identically. Participants and researchers conducting assessments are blinded to allocation.

Conditions

• Cognitive Abilities
• Performance
• Stress
• Cognitive Performance

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	EEG-guided binaural beat audio	30-minute session delivered via headphones; proprietary algorithm uses real-time single-electrode EEG from the left prefrontal cortex to dynamically adjust binaural beat frequencies.
OTHER	Non-binaural audio intervention	30-minute session of music without frequency differences between ears (non-binaural), delivered via identical headphones; blinding maintained.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-04-07
• Primary completion: 2026-05-31
• Completion: 2026-08-30
• First posted: 2026-02-12
• Last updated: 2026-04-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States