Kirsten van den Bosch receives NWO-XS grant for research on auditory illusions and mental health

Kirsten van den Bosch has been awarded a NWO-XS grant from the NWO Open competition - SSH for her research on the effect of visual and auditory art on mental health, using binaural beats. Globally, millions of people face mental health problems. This is also increasingly true for young people. Affordable and accessible aids are desperately needed, and binaural beats could be a suitable candidate for this. 

Van den Bosch: ‘Binaural beats are a kind of auditory illusion where you hear a rhythmic tone that is not actually there. We know that listening to binaural beats can improve creativity, mood and concentration, but listening to binaural beats in itself is not very pleasant. For this reason, I am going to investigate whether binaural beats incorporated in multidisciplinary art can have a beneficial effect on our mental health.'

Through an art performance with image and sound, visitors are exposed to different frequencies of binaural beats using silent disco headphones. After the performance, the effects of binaural beats on working memory and the degree of relaxation as indicators of mental health are measured.

Controlled testing of the effects of binaural beats can be difficult and has not been done much. With this research, van den Bosch hopes to provide a proof of concept of the effect of specific frequencies binaural beats incorporated into art, on the one hand. On the other hand, she hopes to provide a proof of methodology for large-scale testing of the effects of binaural beats using silent-disco headphones.

About NWO Open competition – SSH
With the NWO Open Competition-SSH, NWO Social Sciences and Humanities wants to offer researchers the opportunity to carry out research into a subject of their own choosing without any thematic constraints. The funding instrument aims to serve a broader group of researchers in different stages of their academic careers. The NWO-XS grant amounts to a maximum of 50,000 euros and is intended to enable promising ideas and innovative initiatives within the SSH disciplines.

More information
Profilepage Kirsten van den Bosch