MeLisa Gantt, PhD — “Can Theta and Delta Frequencies Positively Affect Post-Deployment Health?” Stress and sleep disturbances are two of the most common issues among service members returning from deployment. This three-phase study assesses the efficacy of binaural beats (theta and delta frequencies) on heart rate variability and sleep quality. In Phase I, 74 service members with complaint of post-deployment stress were randomized to either listen to music embedded with binaural beats (theta frequency) or music alone. Each group listened to their respective intervention throughout the night for at least three consecutive nights per week for four weeks. A 20-minute pre- and post-intervention heart rate variability (HRV) stress test along with perceived stress and sleep diaries assessed intervention efficacy. 167 military healthcare beneficiaries participating in Phase II and III used randomized crossover methods to compare music only to music embedded with
binaural beats (delta frequency) to binaural beat (delta frequency) tones alone. Objective and subjective sleep quality measures assess intervention efficacy. It is hypothesized that binaural beats tones alone and music embedded with binaural beats will show similar positive results when compared to baseline and music alone.
Dr. Gantt is a research scientist and CEO of the Gantt Clinical Research Institute. She is a retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel with 28 years of military service. She has served in roles such as Director for the Center for Nursing Science and Clinical Inquiry, Director of Research, Deputy Director for the Joint Combat Casualty Research Team in Afghanistan, and the Research Consultant to the Commanding General for the US Army Regional Health Command in Europe. She holds a PhD in Nursing from the University of Central Florida, a Master of Science in Nursing Education from Barry University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Maryland. She is a published author and three-time research grant recipient with over $1 million in federal funding for her research in Reiki and Binaural Beat/Brain Entrainment Technology.
