When we listen to music before falling asleep, the brain continues to analyze it during sleep. So you can wake up in the middle of the night because a song sticks in your head.
- “Earworms” refer to the fact that music stays in the head for a long time.
- Listening to music before sleeping stimulates the brain, which reactivates at night and generates nocturnal awakenings.
- To sleep better, it is better to reduce the daily listening time, and especially to avoid falling asleep to music.
A little music in the evening, to find sleep calmly: if the idea seems good a priori, American researchers prove that it could make your nights more restless. In Psychological Science, they publish the results of a study on the consequences of music on our sleep. A song listened to just before sleeping increases the risk of waking up in the middle of the night with the tune ringing in your head. This phenomenon has a name:towards ear“.
A song that loops, even in the middle of the night
Sleep specialist Michael Scullin realized he woke up during the night with a song playing on repeat in his head. This experience made him want to study the subject from a scientific point of view. “Everyone knows that music is goodhe says. Teens and young adults often listen to music before bed. But sometimes good things can get too much.” According to him, the more music you listen to, the greater the risk of having “ear worms” during the night is important. However, it degrades the quality of our sleep. According to the conclusions of the research, a person who regularly suffers from “ear worms“, or at least once a week, is six times more likely to have poor quality sleep, compared to people who rarely suffer from it. The type of music listened to also seems to have an effect: instrumental music would remain twice as much in the lead, compared to music with lyrics.
Popular songs listened to just before sleeping
These results were obtained using two methods: a survey and a laboratory experiment. 209 people responded to a questionnaire on their quality of sleep, their music listening habits and the frequency of “ear worms“. Then, about fifty people took part in the experiment carried out at Baylor University: the team generated “towards ear“at home to study their effects on sleep.”Just before bedtime, we had them listen to popular and very catchy songs – Shake it off by Taylor Swift, Call me maybe by Carly Rae Hepsen and Don’t stop believin’ by Journey“, says Michael Scullin. Some participants listened to the original versions of the songs, others listened to the instrumental versions. They were then asked to report if the music stuck in their head.”We analyzed whether this had an impact on the physiology of their sleep“, adds the researcher. According to their conclusions, the “ear worms” make it more difficult to fall asleep, increase the number of nocturnal awakenings and lengthen the duration of light sleep phases. The sleep specialist recommends reducing the amount of music listened to, if you are prone to “ear worms“, especially before going to bed. Instead, it is better to meditate or read a few pages of a book!
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