What the heck is pink noise? And why are scientists saying sleeping with it can harm your health?
The sleep aid that could actually be doing more harm than good
- Pink noise, a lower-pitched sound similar to white noise, is commonly promoted as a sleep aid, with some recent research suggesting it could boost deep sleep.
- New research from Penn Medicine, however, warns that pink noise may actually be detrimental to sleep quality, particularly affecting REM sleep.
- A small Federal Aviation Administration-funded study on 25 healthy adults found that exposure to pink noise over a week led to a nearly 19-minute decrease in REM sleep.
- Researchers, including Dr. Mathias Basner, caution that reduced REM sleep can negatively impact memory, emotional regulation, and brain development, especially in children.
- The findings highlight the need for more extensive research into broadband noise sleep aids and advise against their use for newborns and toddlers, given the critical role of REM sleep in early development.
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