A new study suggests pink noise, a common sleep aide, may interfere with deep, restorative sleep necessary for both body and brain health. One of the most popular sleep aides – used by adults, kids and babies may be doing more harm than good. A new study suggests pink noise, a common setting on sound machines and apps, actually interferes with healthy sleep. Pink noise is often described as a gentler version of white noise, with softer high frequencies that create sounds like steady rain or rustling leaves. In the study, 25 healthy adults spent seven nights in a sleep lab, exposed to aircraft noise, pink noise, and/or earplugs. Researchers tracked their sleep quality and alertness. Pink noise alone cut 19 minutes of REM sleep, the dream stage tied to emotions, motor skills, and brain development. When the two types of noise were combined, sleep quality dropped even further with less deep sleep, less REM sleep, and more time spent awake. Participants also reported lighter sleep, more awakenings, and worse overall sleep quality when they didn’t use earplugs. The lead author says, Our findings suggest that playing pink noise and other types of broadband noise during sleep could be harmful—especially for children whose brains are still developing and who spend much more time in REM sleep than adults.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Study Raises Red Flags About Noise Machines Apps And Healthy Sleep
