The effect of binaural beats on phonological awareness and cortical connectivity in dyslexic children

Abstract

Abstract Developmental dyslexia involves deficits in phonological awareness and cortical connectivity, yet the effects of binaural beats on these domains remain underexplored. This study examined the effects of theta (5 Hz) and beta (15 Hz) binaural beats on phonological processing and EEG coherence in 45 dyslexic children aged 6.5–8.3 years. Participants were assigned to the theta, beta, or control condition and received 12 binaural beat sessions over a period of four weeks. Resting-state EEGs were recorded at baseline, after the binaural beats sessions, and at a 6-week follow-up. Results showed that theta binaural beats significantly enhanced intrahemispheric coherence in frontal and temporal regions, correlating with improved phonological awareness. Beta beats enhanced interhemispheric coherence, particularly between temporal lobes, potentially supporting phonological decoding. The control group showed no significant changes. Correlation analysis revealed that coherence in specific brain regions (e.g., T3–T4, r  = 0.788, p  = 0.0013) was significantly associated with performance on phoneme judgment tasks. These findings suggest that frequency-specific binaural beats can enhance neural connectivity and phonological processing. This non-invasive approach shows potential for further exploration of cognitive effects in dyslexic children, though limitations such as small sample size and restricted frequency range necessitate additional research.