An interventional study of EEG-guided binaural beat audio and Non-binaural audio intervention in Cognitive Abilities, Performance and Stress, sponsored by Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-24.
Sponsored by Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
Performance-related stress can impair sustained attention, inhibitory control, and memory. This randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled parallel-arm trial evaluates whether a 30-minute EEG-guided binaural beat audio intervention reduces subjective stress/performance anxiety and improves cognition, and whether it changes task-related brain reactivity measured by fMRI. The intervention uses real-time single-electrode EEG recorded over the left prefrontal cortex to dynamically adjust binaural beat frequencies to guide the brain toward a target state; the sham condition uses non-binaural music delivered through identical headphones.
Adult music majors preparing for an upcoming concert will complete pre- and post-intervention fMRI sessions during cognitive/music tasks (Stop Signal Reaction Task, Music Reading Task, Music Memory Retrieval Task) and complete visual analog scales (VAS) assessing performance anxiety, stress, and related subjective states. The primary outcomes include fMRI task-related activity in stress-regulation regions (dlPFC, amygdala, hippocampus), behavioral inhibition indices from the stop-signal task, music memory retrieval accuracy, and VAS-reported stress/performance anxiety.
This study will test the efficacy and neurophysiologic mechanism of a novel EEG-guided binaural beat audio intervention for mitigating performance-related stress and enhancing cognition in musicians. The study is conducted at Texas Tech University (recruitment/screening/analysis) with neuroimaging and cognitive task data collection at the Texas Tech Neuroimaging Institute (TTNI).
Participants complete a single in-person visit (\~3 hours) including consent and eligibility screening, task training, pre-intervention VAS and fMRI scanning, randomization to intervention or sham, a 30-minute audio session, post-intervention fMRI scanning, and post-intervention VAS.
The experimental audio intervention uses a proprietary algorithm with real-time EEG feedback from a single electrode over the left prefrontal cortex to dynamically adjust binaural beat frequencies during a 30-minute session delivered through headphones. The sham comparator uses non-binaural audio (music without interaural frequency differences) delivered identically. Participants and researchers conducting assessments are blinded to allocation.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is the lead sponsor of 100 studies on the registry; 14 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraception
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
30-minute session delivered via headphones; proprietary algorithm uses real-time single-electrode EEG from the left prefrontal cortex to dynamically adjust binaural beat frequencies.
Other: EEG-guided binaural beat audio
30-minute session of music without frequency differences between ears (non-binaural), delivered via identical headphones; blinding maintained.
Other: Non-binaural audio intervention
30-minute session delivered via headphones; proprietary algorithm uses real-time single-electrode EEG from the left prefrontal cortex to dynamically adjust binaural beat frequencies.
30-minute session of music without frequency differences between ears (non-binaural), delivered via identical headphones; blinding maintained.
Differences in fMRI blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) responses of the brain in response to Stop Signals of a Stop Signal Reaction Time (SSRT) recorded following administration of each intervention and sham control.
fMRI task-related activity in dlPFC, amygdala, and hippocampus during SSRT.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 30 minutes after completion of session).
Differences in fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses in the brain to images of the staff during the Music Reading Task (MRT), recorded following administration of each intervention and sham control.
fMRI task-related activity in dlPFC, amygdala, hippocampus, and reactivity of mirror-neuron-related regions will be examined and compared between the groups.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 30 minutes after completion of session).
Differences in fMRI blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses in the brain to images of the staff during the Music Memory Retrieval Task (MMRT), recorded after administration of each intervention and the sham control.
fMRI task-related activity in dlPFC, amygdala, hippocampus, and reactivity of mirror-neuron-related regions will be examined and compared between the groups.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 30 minutes after completion of session).
Stop Signal Reaction Time
Estimated time (milliseconds) required to inhibit a prepotent response following a stop signal, computed using the horse-race model and drift-diffusion theory. Lower values indicate better inhibitory control.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 30 minutes after completion of session).
Reaction Time on Music Memory Retrieval Task.
Mean response latency (seconds) during the Music Memory Retrieval Task recognition phase. Lower values indicate faster information retrieval and decision speed without implying a speed-accuracy trade-off. The unit of measurement is in seconds.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 30 minutes after completion of session).
Hit Rate of Music Memory Retrieval Task.
Subjects will be presented with images of staff. Proportion of targets correctly identified as "seen." Range 0-1; higher values indicate better recognition sensitivity. The unit of measurement is in proportion (0-1).
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 30 minutes after completion of session).
False Alarm Rate of Music Memory Retrieval Task.
Subjects will be presented with images of staff. Proportion of non-targets incorrectly endorsed as "seen." Range 0-1; lower values indicate better discrimination (fewer false positives). The unit of measurement is in proportion (0-1).
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 30 minutes after completion of session).
Self-reported stress level, rated on a visual analogue scale.
100 mm VAS, anchored at 0 ("Not Stressed") and 100 ("Stressed"). Higher scores = greater stress.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 40 minutes after completion of session).
Self-reported level of confidence in performance on a visual analogue scale.
100 mm VAS, anchored at 0 ("Not confident at all") and 100 ("Extremely confident"). Higher scores = greater perceived confidence in performance.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 40 minutes after completion of session).
Self-reported performance anxiety level, rated on a visual analogue scale.
100 mm VAS, anchored at 0 ("Not anxious at all") and 100 ("Extremely anxious"). Higher scores = greater perceived confidence in performance.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 40 minutes after completion of session).
Self-reported performance on cognitive tasks, rated on a visual analogue scale.
100 mm VAS, anchored at 0 ("Worst Performance") and 100 ("Best Performance"). Higher scores = greater perceived confidence in performance.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 40 minutes after completion of session).
Self-reported rating of overall well-being, rated on a visual analogue scale.
100 mm VAS, anchored at 0 ("Very poor well-being") and 100 ("Excellent well-being"). Higher scores = better well-being.
Time frame: Baseline (immediately prior to 30-minute intervention/control audio session) and immediately post-intervention/control audio session (within 40 minutes after completion of session).
Plan to share: Undecided — De-identified individual participant data may be shared with qualified researchers upon a reasonable request and after obtaining institutional approval, as the study is based on a proprietary algorithm owned by Texas Tech University.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started Apr 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Mar 2027, 11 months after the start.
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