Transcript
Should you listen to sounds to help you fall asleep or improve sleep quality? Or is it all just hype and placebo? Tons of studies have examined this question. But there's a whole lot of nuance. So we're going to dissect a review of almost 100 studies and pull out some actionable takeaways. Welcome back to 30 studies to change your life. Sleep week. We've already covered the effects of light and the science of sleep masks. But y'all have been asking about sound. And you did not realize the can of worms you were opening. So buckle in, my fellow science seekers. It's going to get messy.
the sleep noise framework. Even before we get to any study results, this framework will help you intuitively pick a solution to help with your own sleep. Ready? We've got two timings. Sound before sleep to help you follow sleep, or during sleep to help you stay asleep and improve sleep quality. Next we have five types of sounds. External environmental, like traffic or annoying roommates. Colored noises. I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be bioing noise. Autonomous sensory meridian response sounds, aka nature sounds. Music. Generally classical, but really anything without beats or percussion and words, like audiobooks or podcasts.
Lastly, we have the six benefit mechanisms. The ways that sound can help. They can. One, physically and mentally relax you. Two, when your mind is racing, sound can help pull you out of yourself, not in a weird way. Three, matching your brain and body rhythms to the beat or frequency of the sound. Four, block out distracting background noise. Five, actively make you feel good. Get those positive brain chemicals flowing. And six, expectations, personal or cultural beliefs. If you think sound will help, it probably will. It's a lot, right? Which part do you want to hear about first? But here's one quick takeaway. This meta-analysis found that for every 10 decibels of added traffic noise that people had to hear outside at night, they were increasingly more likely to be overweight. Sleep is important. Who here uses earplugs? Recommendations? Ooh, next time we're getting into the weeds.
Additional notes
Caption: Replying to @M Poll: What do YOU listen to around sleep? When and for what reason? #sleep #sleepscience #science #sciencetok