Binaural-beat music and sleep in older adults (Lin 2024)
After 14 days, the binaural-beat music group showed significant improvement in sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) and a significant reduction in sympathetic nervous activity versus control, plus improvement in depression.
The question: Does music with embedded binaural beats improve sleep in older adults with poor sleep living in long-term care?
| Type of study | Randomized trial |
|---|---|
| Who took part | 64 older adults with poor sleep in a long-term care facility in Taiwan |
| What was done | 20 minutes of familiar Taiwanese Hokkien oldies with embedded binaural beats, morning and afternoon, 3 times a week for 14 days. The specific beat frequency is not detailed in the abstract. |
| How much weight it carries | Mixed evidence |
What it found
- The binaural-beat music group showed significant improvement in sleep quality on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) versus control.
- Sympathetic nervous activity, measured by heart rate variability, was significantly reduced versus control.
- Depression also improved.
Limits
- Small (n = 64), single-blind and single-site.
- The familiar music means the effect of the beat cannot be separated from the effect of pleasant, familiar music; the comparison is beats plus music versus control, not beats alone.
- The sample was older, institutionalized people with poor sleep, which limits transfer to other groups.
- The 14-day window is short, and durability is unknown.
Where this sits
More in the library on sleep. For the wider picture, read Binaural beats for sleep.
This is our plain-language reading of the paper. It is not medical advice, and one study rarely settles a question.
Sources
- Lin, et al. (2024). Examining the effects of binaural beat music on sleep quality, heart rate variability, and depression in older people with poor sleep quality in a long-term care institution: A randomized controlled trial. Geriatrics & Gerontology International, 24(3), 297–304. doi.org/10.1111/ggi.14827