There’s a new way to get high and it doesn’t involve snorting, smoking or a syringe – all you need are your ears.

It’s called I-Doser, and it’s a new type of software that claims to produce binaural beats that synchronize a person’s brainwaves, putting them in the same state as a dose of some recreational drugs and prescription medicines. Plus, it can be downloaded on an MP3 player.

What this means is that after putting on some headphones and listening to five minutes of white noise, which sounds like hisses and static, making up each track, I-Doser claims that the user will feel different – very different.

“I found out about it around a month ago and the first time I tried it was strange, the only way to explain it is to try it for yourself,” said Chris Peck, freshman in art and design. “I thought this was going to be completely fake like a placebo and I went in pretty pessimistic, but it worked out all right.

Peck said he listened to the shortest track available, “Nitrous Oxide,” and immediately felt disoriented and giggly.”

But Peck’s results aren’t unusual – I-Doser has become an underground Internet sensation since its release last March. Now, the company offers more than 40 different downloadable tracks ranging from the illegal to the pharmaceutical, with different tracks simulating the effects of crack, acid, OxyContin and more.

But the effects of binaural beats aren’t a recent discovery.

Interestingly, research about how binaural beats affect brainwaves has been around since the early 1900s, when it was used to research Parkinson’s disease. Now, nearly a century later, the same technology is leaving some experts scratching their heads at the validity of I-Doser’s claims.

“I would be real skeptical of this,” said Michael Kitchell, neurologist at McFarland Clinic in Ames.

Kitchell said a person can change their brainwaves by concentrating really hard or relaxing, but there is not much more a person can do to alter them.

Yet, while I-Doser offers risk-free mind expansion, Peck had a different experience.

“I had a slight headache the first time I tried it, but there were no long-lasting effects,” Peck said. “But when my roommate tried the ‘LSD’ track he had a two-day effect where he didn’t feel right.”

According to I-Doser, however, there are no adverse effects of listening, although they advise not to operate heavy machinery or drive a vehicle while under the influence.

On campus, Sara Kellogg, program director of the substance abuse and violence prevention office, said she had never heard of I-Doser.

“It’s different, because it’s not actually a substance like alcohol or marijuana,” she said.

However, she said if the product actually did what the company claims, then there is cause for concern.

“To title things like that, and if they actually give a noticeable response, that seems to be, at the least, irresponsible,” Kellogg said.

Alternately, Peck said it’s a safe alternative to actual drugs.

“I absolutely recommend it – if you’re going to experiment, then you should be safe about it,” Peck said.

For more information on I-Doser or to download a sample dose, visit www.i-doser.com.