White noise is a popular solution for drowning out unwanted sounds, but there is actually an entire rainbow of sounds.
In a new study, researchers suggest that “pink noise” might enhance the quality of a person’s sleep.
The research was conducted by a team from Penn State
According to research, Americans sleep an hour less each night than they did in the 1940s.
That lack of sleep can have harmful consequences on the human body, including weight gain, heart disease, susceptibility to illness, higher blood pressure, and other negative impacts.
To combat the harm that can be caused by sleep loss, the team developed ways to improve the quality of a night’s sleep.
They examine the effects of “pink noise” as a way to improve the quality of sleep.
Prior research suggests that pink noise might increase the brain waves associated with deep sleep.
Many people are familiar with white noise: noise that covers the full range of human hearing at equal intensity, like static from a radio or analog television set.
Pink noise, by contrast, is more intense at lower frequencies, resulting in a deeper sound, like a steady rain.
Every night, humans go through each sleep stage multiple times including light sleep, deep sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
During deep sleep, the slow brain-wave activity can be detected that differs from the brain-wave activity at any other time, whether people are waking or sleeping.
Deep sleep may be the key to a good night’s rest, according to the researchers.
Deep sleep has previously been linked to health benefits for the body and mind, including quicker healing, better attention, less pain, and greater empathy.
During deep sleep, the brain clears toxic metabolites which, if allowed to accumulate, contribute to the neurodegeneration associated with aging.
As people age, they also get less deep sleep. This is especially true in 2020 when getting a good night’s sleep is harder than it has been for generations.
Daily stressors, particularly those in our current pandemic environment, can make it challenging to get adequate, high-quality sleep without additional support.
According to the team, there could be several potential benefits of this approach to improving sleep.
By exposing study participants to pink noise during deep sleep cycles, the researchers were able to increase the percentage of time that participants spent in a deep sleep.
This increase was seen compared to nights without any sounds and nights when participants were exposed to disruptive noises like alarms while in deep sleep.
The findings suggest that using pink noise to increase restorative sleep may be possible.
The researchers hope that this research will help identify how sounds can improve the quantity and quality of restorative sleep to sustain brain health.
Better sleep could lead to a healthier, more attentive, more empathetic populace.
One author of the study is Penn State researchers Margeaux Schade, an assistant research professor in biobehavioral health.
The study is published in Nature and Science of Sleep.
Copyright © 2020 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
