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Add Pink Noise To Your Bedroom Routine

Let’s face it, everything is better in pink. If there are two cupcakes, one with white icing and one with pink, which one do you pick? Hostess snowballs? Definitely better in pink. If your Mom bought you and your sister notebooks, she had better have made sure both or neither were pink. Party dresses? Don’t even go there.

If you are familiar with white noise, you know it to be that pleasant buzzing that often occurs when the radio loses reception. It is often used in healthcare to block out noise caused by hearing impairments or as a sleep aid, but did you know about pink noise? Although it may sound like the latest psychedelic rock movement, pink noise is more accurately the latest proposed solution to sleep interruption. And, according to a recent study, it may actually help to improve memory as well.

Sound Stimulation and Sleep
According to recent research done at Northwestern University, when gentle sound stimulation is synced up to the rhythm of brain waves, it can not only lead to a better sleep in older adults, but can also improve their ability to remember specific words.

Why Deep Sleep Is important
Memory loss typically occurs throughout the process of aging; so does the gradual decrease in deep sleep. Scientists suspect a connection. Because deep sleep is a critical component in the consolidation of memory, it is believed that a reduction in one may be responsible for a reduction in the other. Therefore, scientists believe that using sound stimulation to induce deep sleep may be the solution to memory loss.

During deep sleep, brainwave production is reduced to a rate of one per second, quite a bit slower than the 10 oscillations that happen during the seconds when one is awake. Giovanni Santstasi, co-author of the study was able to create an algorithm capable of transmitting audio during the rising of slow wave oscillations, to boost the synchronization of neural activity.

Woman sleeping

The Study
The study was comprised of 13 individuals aged 60 and up recruited from Northwestern’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center. It targeted individuals suffering from low levels of sleep and memory loss.

The aim of the study was to monitor brain waves in individuals using a breakthrough audio system that can lock in audio stimulation at the moment when specific neuron communication occurs during deep sleep.

Participants were exposed to a night of acoustic stimulation followed by a night of false stimulation. The two stimulations were identical, except for the fact that the individuals did not hear noise in the false stimulation. Upon awakening, the subjects were given memory tests, with another set given the following morning.

Results
The study found that while memory recall ability rose by a couple of percentage points following the false stimulation, those who listened to the pink noise showed a vast increase in memory recall. In fact, those who were subjected to the acoustic stimulation showed three times as much improvement as their counterparts. These finding suggest that slow wave sleep can indeed have a significant impact on memory.

What Does This Mean?
For those suffering memory loss, the new is good. It suggests that there might be a way to safely improve memory without the use of expensive, side effect inducing medicine. “Pink noise” may offer a completely safe and simple alternative.

What do you think about the latest findings? Is pink the new white? Let us know!

Woman having trouble sleeping

The Daily Challenges Of Night Owls

If one is really interested in the daily challenges of “night owls,” perhaps they should ask Gene Simmons. After all, it is he who is responsible for writing the iconic lyrics to Kiss’ 1970’s hit single, “Rock n Roll All Night,” the song responsible for turning the conservative world on its head. If it weren’t rebellious enough to wear six-inch platforms and model lewd facial expressions, Kiss added insult to injury by daring to challenge to concept of a 9-5 time schedule. As if by just staying up late, you too would gain rock star status and cause your parents to lose as much sleep as you. But, as with everything else that’s fun to do, staying up late does come with downsides.

It Starts with Chronotypes
Chronotype is the term researchers use to describe differences in when we prefer to be active. As a whole, we tend toward “morningness” in our early years, move toward “eveningness” in adolescence and then shift back toward “morningness” in later years. A study published in Pediatrics, polled 7th to 12th graders about alertness, sleepiness, planning and task completion. The study found that having the evening chronotype and greater daytime tiredness had a large impact on the child’s behavioral and emotional well being. It also found that the eveningness chronotype was more often associated with risk- taking behaviors, such as drug and alcohol use, and was also associated with health risks, like diabetes and mood disorders.

Can We Change This?
Even though we may have variations in the way our bodily clocks are set, the settings are not inalterable. Studies show that the body’s clock can be affected by its reaction to light and that light therapy and limiting and scheduling exposure to light can be very effective.

How?

Morning Sun
First thing in the morning is the best time to grab you some bright sunlight. Natural light early in the day can reset your circadian rhythm and get you in sync with the movements of the sun.

No Blue Light After Dinner
It may seem to be beyond possible to eliminate all artificial light from your nightly habitat, but studies show that even very brief exposure to blue light in the evening can lead to up to 30 minutes of sleep delay. Exposure to artificial light delays the body’s natural release of melatonin and also limits the supply to the body throughout the night, making us more susceptible to interrupted sleep. What can you do to prevent this without eliminating all activity after 6 pm? Sunglasses with orange lenses effectively filter our blue light, and look really cool as well. Could that be Bono’s secret?

No Electronic Devices After Dinner
A 2014 National Sleep Poll showed that electronic devices account for 50% of sleep disorders. Can’t resist the urge to check for that late night booty call? Use glasses designed to filter blue light or consider downloading apps which are designed to shield against blue light from iPads, computers, and smart phones.

Natural and Bright Light During the Day
If you don’t have the good fortune of working in a brightly lit space, try taking a walk during your lunch break to make sure your body maintains a healthy rhythm and gets some Vitamin D exposure. You can also purchase a blue light device for your office or place of employment.

Although Gene Simmons doesn’t seem to have lost any sleep over the issue, (pun intended) you may want to work on regulating your bodily clock. Let us know if you have made any attempts to do so and what works for you (or doesn’t.) We love to hear from all you insomniacs and otherwise.

Woman sleeping in bed. Woman sleeping isolated on white background.

Reasons to sleep well every night

More Reasons to Get Your Daily Sleep by Vine Vera

If you’re tired and worn out after a long day at work, and feel that you’ve to stay up to watch that late night show you are fond of, you might be better off not to. It’s no secret that scientists want you to sleep eight hours a day – that’s the sleep time you need to have for maintaining a healthy mind.

However, there are more reasons to sleep well – including the benefits sleeping has with your skin.

After a hard day’s work, the only thing we have on our mind is to get a good night’s sleep so that we can get up fresh and energized the next morning. However, did you know that not sleeping well at night can affect your health in the long term? Read on to know the 8 main reasons to sleep for at least 7 – 8 hours every night.

Vine Vera on good night sleep

Better skin – Your lack of sleep shows on your face, there’s no secret about that. The best tonic to look and feel better is to sleep well, because the metabolic rate increases as well replenishing the dead cells on the surface of the skin. Interestingly, the older you are the less sleep you may need and being younger means trying to get more sleep.

Improvises health – Getting insufficient sleep can give way to serious health problems for you in the long run. The feeling of being weak or fatigued starts setting in with irregular or less sleep. People who sleep for at least 8 hours every night are healthier and fitter as compared to those who don’t.

Better sex life – A recent study suggested that 26 percent of the people interviewed in that survey revealed that their sex life suffered immensely due to lack of sleep and being tired at night. Other studies reveal that men who do not get enough sleep have lower testosterone levels as compared to those who sleep well.

Reduces pain – Sleep has the ability to reduce any kind of pain that you might be suffering from currently. Sleep works as a medication for pain. Studies reveal that sleep loss has a direct effect on increased body pain of any kind.

Works as a mood booster – Getting a good night’s sleep helps you to feel good and be less cranky in the morning especially at work. People who do not sleep well often experience anger issues and snap at others without reason. An overtired or fatigued mind can do unwanted things while good sleep can elevate the mood and make you feel happy at all times.

Helps control excessive weight – Getting proper and sufficient sleep at night helps an individual to maintain his weight. Deprived sleep can make your body overtire and you might laze around in bed all day long instead of being physically active. Also, people who do not sleep well at night tend to be hungrier during the day and crave for high-fat and high-calories food items.

Clears thoughts – A good night’s sleep helps a person to wake up with clear thoughts in the morning. He is able to focus on his work, make lesser mistakes and also perform better in all that he does. Individuals who do not sleep well often feel distracted and make mistakes repeatedly.

Sharpens memory – When your brain is able to get the right amount of rest and that too soundly, it functions better the next day. The brain is able to consolidate the memories and process them easily thereby sharpening the individual’s memory for the future. Decreased sleep can also give rise to false memories.

And now after you had a good night sleep don’t forget to read about having a better morning.

 

 

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