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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1543282
Modulated Theta Band Frequency with Binaural Beat Stimulation Correlates with Improved Cognitive Scores in Alzheimer's Patients
Provisionally accepted
Muhammad Danish Mujib 1
Ahmad Zahid Rao 1
Muhammad Fahim Ul Haque 2
Ahmad O. Alokaily 3,4*
Syeda Sehar Hussain 1 Ahmed A Aldohbeyb 3,4 Saad Ahmed Qazi 5,6
Muhammad Abul Hasan 1,7*- 1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Punjab, Pakistan
- 2 Department of Telecommunication Engineering, NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
- 3 Department of Biomedical Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 4 King Salman Center for Disability Research, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 5 Department of Electrical Engineering, NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
- 6 Neurocomputation Lab, National Center of Artificial Intelligence, NED University of Engineering 13 & Technology, karachi, Pakistan
- 7 Neurocomputation Lab, National Center of Artificial Intelligence, NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan
Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects 50 million individuals worldwide, a number projected to triple by 2050. Due to discomfort through electrical and magnetic neuromodulation technologies, this is the first study to propose the potential of auditory binaural beat (BB) stimulation at an alpha frequency (10 Hz) for enhancing cognitive and neurological outcomes in AD patients. Twenty-five patients were divided into the experimental-Group (n=15) and control-Group (n=10). Psychometric and neurological assessments were conducted Pre-Treatment (Day 1) and Post-Treatment (Day 14 following consecutive days of binaural beats (BB) or auditory tone stimulation administered from Day 2 to Day 13. A two-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of group (F=6.087, p=0.016) and session (F=3.859, p=0.024) on MMSE scores, with the experimental group showing significant improvement in MMSE scores (t=7.33, p=0.00000012) compared to the control group (p=0.2306). Paired t-tests revealed a significant reduction in depression scores t=1.701, p=0.0253) in the experimental group, while no significant improvements were noted in the control group. EEG recordings revealed significant changes in α-band, β-band, and γ-band power (p < 0.05). Moreover, the correlation between EEG bands and MMSE subparts showed that increased θ-band power in the experimental group was positively correlated (p < 0.05) with the frontal region during language tasks and in the frontal and central regions during registration and orientation tasks, indicating potential neurocognitive benefits. The results of this research imply that BB stimulation has untapped potential
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, binaural beat, cognitive score, Correlation, EEG
Received: 11 Dec 2024; Accepted: 12 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Danish Mujib, Rao, Fahim Ul Haque, Alokaily, Sehar Hussain, Aldohbeyb, Ahmed Qazi and Hasan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ahmad O. Alokaily, Department of Biomedical Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad Abul Hasan, Neurocomputation Lab, National Center of Artificial Intelligence, NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan
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