Sound Machines Might Be Making Your Sleep Worse

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DcWprVQxM2m/That soothing pink noise playing beside your bed may not be helping your sleep after all.A University of Pennsylvania study published in the journal Sleep tested 25 healthy adults in a sleep laboratory for seven nights. Researchers compared aircraft noise, continuous pink noise, the two together, and earplugs.The results are surprising. Aircraft noise reduces deep sleep by about 23 minutes per night. But pink noise produces a different problem: at 50 decibels, it reduces REM sleep by nearly 19 minutes. REM is important for memory, emotional regulation and brain development.When pink noise is combined with aircraft noise, sleep architecture deteriorated further, with both deep and REM sleep reduced and about 15 additional minutes of wakefulness.Earplugs are more helpful. They largely prevente the sleep disruption caused by environmental noise, although their protection weakens at the loudest noise level tested. This was a small, short-term laboratory study, and it does not prove that every sound machine is harmful. Since millions of people use continuous broadband noise to help them sleep, the researchers say that additional studies are needed, particularly in children. References On My Website. https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/49/5/zsag001/8452884#SleepHealth #PinkNoise #REMsleep #SleepScience #BrainHealth