The science behind Beginning
Beginning is built on decades of published research into how sound shapes the brain — and on an independent university study of the app itself. Here's the evidence, in plain language, with every source linked so you can check it yourself.
Jump to: The Rutgers study · Full references
Studied. Independently. Peer-reviewed.
Stress reduced by 70% in 30 days
Independent study of 100 healthcare workers by researchers at Rutgers University School of Nursing, published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners (2023). Peer-reviewed.
During the pandemic, researchers at Rutgers University School of Nursing set out to test whether our sound technology could measurably lower stress in one of the most stressed groups in the country: frontline healthcare workers — physicians, nurses, therapists, and technologists.
One hundred participants listened for 20–30 minutes a day over 30 days. Stress was measured with Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, the standard validated instrument in the field — not a survey we wrote. The result was a statistically significant drop in perceived stress of 70%, moving the average participant from moderate stress to low stress.
This is the part that sets Beginning apart: most wellness apps point to general research about meditation. This is independent, peer-reviewed research into the actual sound journeys inside this app.
Prado K., Robinson A. & Chao Y-Y. “The Impact of Mindful Meditation on Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 2023.
The study used an earlier name for our technology; the sound journeys studied are the same ones inside Beginning today.
The Rutgers result isn't magic — it rests on well-established neuroscience. Beginning's sound journeys combine several mechanisms that decades of published research have each linked to calmer, clearer minds. Here's what's happening when you press play.
The adult brain rewires itself in response to repeated experience, forming and strengthening neural pathways. This is why a daily practice works: structured, repeated sensory input can gradually reshape how you think, feel, and respond to stress. Clarity is trainable because the brain is plastic.
The brain runs on rhythmic electrical activity. When two slightly different frequencies are played, one in each ear (binaural beats), the brain responds by synchronizing its own oscillations — especially in the gamma band tied to attention, memory, and insight. Beginning's journeys are engineered around these frequencies. This is why headphones are required: the effect depends on each ear hearing a different tone.
Sound travels through the auditory cortex directly into the limbic system — the brain's emotional core — faster than conscious thought. Specific patterns and frequencies can shift mood, lower stress, and trigger the release of calming neurotransmitters like dopamine. It's why the right sound can settle a racing mind almost instantly.
Sleep is when the brain renormalizes its synapses and consolidates memory — the “price of plasticity.” Poor sleep erodes attention, decision-making, and emotional stability; restored sleep is often the fastest route back to a clear head. Beginning's night journeys are built to help you get there.
Contemplative practice is associated with measurable changes in brain regions governing attention and emotional regulation — reducing activity in stress pathways while strengthening executive function. Beginning delivers the same downshift without asking you to learn a technique: you just listen.
We process more information and stimulation than any generation before us, and the research links that saturation to anxiety, fragmented attention, and low mood. Clarity is the state where the brain can filter and integrate without overload — and 25 minutes of immersive sound is a deliberate, daily way to get back to it.
You can't improve what you can't see. That's why Beginning includes the Clarity Test — a self-assessment, developed with psychologists and mental-health experts, that turns your mental state into a single trackable number: your Clarity Level.
It draws on validated instruments used in clinical practice, scoring across the dimensions that shape a clear mind — mood, confidence, sleep quality, sense of purpose, and relationships. You get a baseline in about 15 minutes, then watch it move as you listen. Six levels map where you are today:
Like any good measure, it's designed to be re-taken — clarity is a film, not a photograph.
The evidence, with sources you can verify
Every claim above rests on published, peer-reviewed research. Follow any citation to its primary source. For the complete bibliography behind our sound technology, download the full reference document.
The full bibliography (80+ peer-reviewed papers) behind Beginning's sound technology.
The study of Beginning
Prado K., Robinson A. & Chao Y-Y. (2023). The Impact of Mindful Meditation on Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. npjournal.org/article/S1555-4155(22)00477-9/fulltext
Neuroplasticity (1–3)
1. Maguire E.A. et al. (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. PNAS 97(8), 4398–4403. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.070039597
2. Draganski B. et al. (2004). Neuroplasticity: Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature 427, 311–312. doi.org/10.1038/427311a
3. Pascual-Leone A. et al. (2005). The plastic human brain cortex. Annual Review of Neuroscience 28, 377–401. doi.org/10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144216
Brainwave entrainment & gamma (4–9)
4. Buzsáki G. & Wang X-J. (2012). Mechanisms of gamma oscillations. Annual Review of Neuroscience 35, 203–225. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150444
5. Jensen O. et al. (2007). Human gamma-frequency oscillations associated with attention and memory. Trends in Neurosciences 30(7), 317–324. doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2007.05.001
6. Garcia-Argibay M. et al. (2019). Efficacy of binaural auditory beats in cognition, anxiety, and pain perception: a meta-analysis. Psychological Research 83(2), 357–372. doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1066-8
7. Becher A-K. et al. (2015). Intracranial EEG power and phase synchronization changes during monaural and binaural beat stimulation. European Journal of Neuroscience 41(2), 254–263. doi.org/10.1111/ejn.12760
8. McConnell P.A. et al. (2014). Auditory driving of the autonomic nervous system: theta-frequency binaural beats increase parasympathetic activation. Frontiers in Psychology 5, 1248. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01248
9. Nozaradan S. et al. (2011). Tagging the neuronal entrainment to beat and meter. Journal of Neuroscience 31(28), 10234–10240. doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0411-11.2011
Sound therapy & auditory processing (10–15)
10. Koelsch S. (2010). Towards a neural basis of music-evoked emotions. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 14(3), 131–137. doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.01.003
11. Chanda M.L. & Levitin D.J. (2013). The neurochemistry of music. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 17(4), 179–193. doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2013.02.007
12. Blood A.J. & Zatorre R.J. (2001). Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in reward and emotion regions. PNAS 98(20), 11818–11823. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.191355898
13. Salimpoor V.N. et al. (2011). Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music. Nature Neuroscience 14(2), 257–262. doi.org/10.1038/nn.2726
14. Thaut M.H. et al. (2015). Neurobiological foundations of neurologic music therapy. Frontiers in Psychology 5, 1185. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01185
15. Mofredj A. et al. (2016). Music therapy, a review of the potential therapeutic benefits for the critically ill. Journal of Critical Care 35, 195–199. doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2016.05.021
Sleep & memory consolidation (16–19)
16. Rasch B. & Born J. (2013). About sleep's role in memory. Physiological Reviews 93(2), 681–766. doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00032.2012
17. Walker M.P. & Stickgold R. (2006). Sleep, memory, and plasticity. Annual Review of Psychology 57, 139–166. doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070307
18. Tononi G. & Cirelli C. (2014). Sleep and the price of plasticity. Neuron 81(1), 12–34. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.12.025
19. Vyazovskiy V.V. et al. (2008). Molecular and electrophysiological evidence for net synaptic potentiation in wake and depression in sleep. Nature Neuroscience 11(2), 200–208. doi.org/10.1038/nn2035
Meditation & stress regulation (20–23)
20. Tang Y-Y. et al. (2007). Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation. PNAS 104(43), 17152–17156. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0707678104
21. Lazar S.W. et al. (2005). Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. NeuroReport 16(17), 1893–1897. doi.org/10.1097/01.wnr.0000186598.66243.19
22. Goyal M. et al. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine 174(3), 357–368. doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018
23. Davidson R.J. et al. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine 65(4), 564–570. doi.org/10.1097/01.PSY.0000077505.67574.E3
Cognitive overload & modern mental health (24–27)
24. Lin L.Y. et al. (2016). Association between social media use and depression among U.S. young adults. Depression and Anxiety 33(4), 323–331. doi.org/10.1002/da.22466
25. Primack B.A. et al. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 53(1), 1–8. doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010
26. Twenge J.M. & Campbell W.K. (2018). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being. Preventive Medicine Reports 12, 271–283. doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2018.10.003
27. World Health Organization (2022). World Mental Health Report: Transforming mental health for all. who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338
The science is settled.
The rest is pressing play.
Try the journeys the researchers studied — free for 7 days.