Gamma binaural beats and the attentional blink (Reedijk 2015)

40 Hz gamma beats eliminated the attentional blink, but only in people with a low spontaneous eye-blink rate (a proxy for low striatal dopamine). Those with a high rate showed no benefit, and alpha beats had no effect in either group.

A plain-language summary from binaural's reading notes, edited by Jude Mc. Last updated 10 November 2026. Not medical advice.

The question: Can alpha or gamma binaural beats reduce the attentional blink, a brief lapse in noticing a second target shown soon after a first?

What it found

• The three-way interaction of eye-blink rate, stimulation and lag was reliable (F(3.04,66.95)=3.38, p=0.023).
• In the low eye-blink-rate group, gamma beats abolished the blink at lag 3 (interaction gone, p>0.58).
• The high eye-blink-rate group showed no benefit.
• Alpha beats had no effect for either group.

Limits

• Small (n=24), strongly gender-imbalanced sample; replication in a balanced sample is needed.
• Splitting people into low and high eye-blink-rate groups is artificial, since the measure is continuous with no clean cutoff.
• No EEG was recorded, so gamma entrainment is inferred.
• The result partly conflicts with earlier findings on gamma beats and the attentional blink; single lab.

Where this sits

More in the library on attention, memory and thinking. For the wider picture, read Binaural beats for focus and studying.

This is our plain-language reading of the paper. It is not medical advice, and one study rarely settles a question.