Can’t Sleep? Try a Hammock or a Rocking-Bed
Mon, July 11, 2011 at 02:00AM The times I’ve had the opportunity to sleep on board a ship at sea have convinced me of the pleasure of being lulled to sleep by the waves. So I’m surprised the idea of a rocking bed – rather than a rocking chair – hasn’t been fully developed yet. However, Swiss scientists have achieved a step in the right direction; they’ve used polysomnography and spectral analysis of EEGs to study the effects of rocking on sleep during an afternoon nap.
The report in the journal Current Biology describes findings in 12 adult volunteers who took afternoon naps on an experimental hammock – a custom-made bed that could be made to rock gently. As expected, the subjects went to sleep faster when the bed was made to rock.
More surprisingly, use of the bed in a slowly rocking mode (0.25 Herz) increased the duration of stage N2 sleep. (Stage N2 is characterized by ‘sleep spindles’ on the EEG, K-complexes. During this non-rapid-eye-movement or REM sleep stage, muscular activity decreases and conscious awareness disappears. This stage normally occupies 45–55% of total sleep in adults.) There was also a sustained increase in slow oscillations.
The researchers take these findings to show that sensory stimulation induced by rocking exerts a synchronizing effect on brain activity that reinforces natural sleep rhythms, producing a deeper and more refreshing sleep. Their next step is to see if rocking can help treat sleep disorders, such as insomnia. I’m betting it will. I don’t doubt that people will be buying rocking beds within the next few years. Water-beds and vibrating beds just don’t do the job.
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