In the early 1800s, Heinrich Wilhelm Dove began espousing the idea that sleep could be affected or induced through the use of auditory stimuli. Everyone already knew that random, loud noises, or repetitive sounds, could disturb sleep, but Mr. Dove’s work explored what sounds could cause sleep. He was working with what became known as binaural beats.

These beats are created when two tones with specific frequency differences, are played simultaneously, with one tone being heard in one ear, and the other tone in the other ear. The brain combines the tones and the resulting tonal beat has the interesting effect of causing a sense of relaxation. Neurophysiologists have begun to explore this idea more and more of late, and have proven that properly applied binaural beats can induce sleep, control pain, and greatly improve the quality of life for people with anxiety-related disorders.

Sleep CDs, and various styles of relaxation music, use this concept of binaural beats to lull the brain into the best state for sleep. For people who experience difficulty in slowing their brain and body down enough to truly rest each evening, music of this type can have a profound effect on their level of health and wellbeing. An excellent alternative to chemical sleep aids, sleep music that uses binaural beat research can make getting to sleep at night a great deal easier.