I’m sure we’ve all had some sleepless nights. Maybe even struggled with insomnia. It’s always the worst when all you want to do is sleep, but as soon as you put your head on your pillow, you’re suddenly wide awake. Researchers think that music might actually be able to help with that.
Before we get into the research, how does sleep work in your brain? Sleep, as you may know, doesn’t actually turn your brain off. In fact, your brain is working overtime behind the scenes while you sleep to ensure everything is functioning as you rest. Your brain keeps the autonomic nervous system going (breathing, heartbeat, etc.) to ensure you stay healthy and alive while you are asleep. Two major systems work together to help control sleep: your circadian rhythm (internal clock) and sleep pressure. Your circadian rhythm is a 24-hour timing system that your brain has. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (or SCN for short) acts as the “master clock.” It receives information about light from the eyes and uses that information to regulate when you feel awake or sleepy. Bright light tells the SCN it’s daytime, and as it gets darker, the SCN signals the pineal gland to release melatonin. Melatonin tells your body that it’s nighttime and prepares it for sleep. Since the SCN uses light signals to tell when to start winding down, bright phone screens at night can actually delay sleep by suppressing melatonin production, which can sometimes contribute to insomnia.
During the day, your brain uses energy and produces a chemical called adenosine. The longer you are awake, the more adenosine accumulates, and high levels of adenosine make you increasingly sleepy. This is called sleep pressure. During sleep, your adenosine levels gradually decrease. This is the exact reason that caffeine works to keep you awake because it blocks adenosine receptors, preventing your brain from detecting the sleep pressure it has built up.
Finally, there are several stages of sleep that your brain goes through, approximately every 90 minutes. Stage N1 is the first stage of sleep, which lasts only a few minutes and is where your heart rate slows, muscles begin relaxing, and brain waves begin slowing. If you have ever experienced that sensation where it feels like you’re falling, it usually happens during this stage. Stage N2 is where most people spend about half of the night. The brain becomes less responsive to outside stimuli, and two brain wave patterns appear: sleep spindles and K-complexes. Sleep spindles are short bursts of fast brain activity that are believed to help learning and memory, while K-complexes are large brain wave spikes that help keep you asleep despite outside noises. This is why you might sleep through certain sounds! Stage N3 is deep sleep. You have very slow brain waves, your body repairs tissues, growth hormone is released, and the immune system strengthens. This is the hardest stage to wake someone. This stage is incredibly important for physical recovery, immune function, and consolidating facts and information learned during the day. Finally, the last stage is REM sleep. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement. This stage is very interesting because your brain becomes almost as active as when you’re awake, but your muscles are temporarily paralyzed (except for your breathing and eye muscles). During REM, the most vivid dreaming occurs, emotional memories are processed, creativity increases, and emotional regulation occurs.
As you can tell, a lot happens in the brain during sleep, and this is why it is so incredibly important to get good sleep! It’s essential for both your cognitive and physical health.
Moving onto the music side of things, how can music help improve sleep quality?
Well, in this review, researchers tried to determine whether or not music can improve sleep quality in adults with insomnia compared to other non-pharmacological treatments. They included 20 randomized controlled trials involving over 1,200 participants. The participants were adults with insomnia or significant sleep difficulties. Most interventions involved listening to calming music before bedtime for several weeks. The researchers found that listening to music before bed significantly improved overall sleep quality. Participants generally fell asleep faster than before the intervention. Music ranked among the most effective non-pharmacological interventions, and benefits were observed across multiple studies, suggesting that the effects are very consistent. Music seems to be a safe, inexpensive, and accessible way to improve sleep quality! However, the type of music you listen to does matter. If you listen to energizing, loud music, your nervous system will most likely not calm down and may actually wake you up even more! This is why the researchers used calming music, which soothed the participants and allowed them to fall asleep much faster.
In this study, researchers investigated whether listening to music before bedtime could reduce insomnia symptoms and improve sleep quality. There were three groups in the trial: one group listened to bedtime music, one listened to an audiobook, and a control group who didn’t listen to anything. Researchers measured the severity of insomnia, sleep quality, and quality of life. They found that participants who listened to music had better sleep quality, reduced insomnia symptoms, and improved quality of life! Since sleep is when our body recovers, the way insomnia patients feel after a good night’s sleep is vital to their daily function and quality of life. This is why using music, and not a pharmacological intervention, is such a good idea because it is clearly a simple and effective way to help improve sleep quality.
Remember, sleep is so important for you. Don’t ever sacrifice sleep for anything – even studying will be less effective if you choose it over sleep. But if you ever have trouble falling asleep, turn on some calming music and see if it helps. You might be surprised by the results!
