A new study points to better quality sleep, when people listened to the sound of their own brain rotating as they slept. Previously, many thought that white or ambient noise machines would increase the quality of one’s sleep dramatically. However, the research from the University of Tubingen in Germany questions if it’s really the best solution to nightly sleep woes.
Jan Born and her colleagues took 11 participants, and analyzed their brain waves using an electroencephalograph (commonly referred to as an EEG). Next, they played back unobtrusive noises that matched up with the rhythm of the people’s brains. Additionally, they played sounds that did not match up with the sleepers’ natural rhythms.
The next day, the memory of the study’s subjects were tested, by assessing how well they remembered word associations learned the day before. When hearing sounds that were not in synch with natural brain rhythms, their quality memory was not affected. Those that heard the sounds in tune with their natural brain rhythm while asleep had a stronger memory.
Unfortunately, “The method cannot be applied by everyday people, at the moment, because the essential point is the ‘closed-loop’ fashion of our stimulation, using the brain’s own rhythm as a pacemaker,” says Dr. Born. However, she does speculate that, “Maybe there will be a company adopting the approach to make some money out of it.”
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