Synchronized Activation of Brain Waves by Singing Bowl Beating Sounds

This study aims to verify if the beating sound of a singing bowl synchronizes and activates brain waves. The singing bowl sound used in this experiment strongly beats at the frequency of 6.68 Hz, while it decays exponentially and lasts for about 50 sec. Brain waves were measured for 5 min at the F3 and F4 region of the 17 subjects who heard the beating singing bowl sounds. Experimental results showed that the increases (up to ~ 251 %) in the spectral magnitudes of the brain waves were dominant at the beat frequency, compared to those of any other clinical brain wave frequency bands. The observed synchronized activation of the brain wave at the beating sound frequency supports that the singing bowl sound may effectively facilitate meditation and relaxation, considering that the beat frequency belongs to theta waves which increases in the relaxed meditation state.