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. 2017 Dec 21:8:718.
doi: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00718. eCollection 2017.

Broadband Sound Administration Improves Sleep Onset Latency in Healthy Subjects in a Model of Transient Insomnia

Ludovico Messineo  1   2   3 , Luigi Taranto-Montemurro  1 , Scott A Sands  1   4 , Melania D Oliveira Marques  1   5 , Ali Azabarzin  1 , David Andrew Wellman  1
Affiliations

Broadband Sound Administration Improves Sleep Onset Latency in Healthy Subjects in a Model of Transient Insomnia

Ludovico Messineo et al. Front Neurol. .

Abstract

Background: Insomnia is a major public health problem in western countries. Previous small pilot studies showed that the administration of constant white noise can improve sleep quality, increase acoustic arousal threshold, and reduce sleep onset latency. In this randomized controlled trial, we tested the effect of surrounding broadband sound administration on sleep onset latency, sleep architecture, and subjective sleep quality in healthy subjects.

Methods: Eighteen healthy subjects were studied with two overnight sleep studies approximately one week apart. They were exposed in random order to normal environmental noise (40.1 [1.3] dB) or to broadband sound administration uniformly distributed in the room by two speakers (46.0 [0.9] dB). To model transient insomnia, subjects went to bed ("lights out") 90 min before usual bedtime.

Results: Broadband sound administration reduced sleep onset latency to stage 2 sleep (time from lights out to first epoch of non-rapid eye movement-sleep stage 2) (19 [16] vs. 13 [23] min, p = 0.011; median reduction 38% baseline). In a subgroup reporting trouble initiating sleep at home (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index section 2 score ≥ 1), sound administration improved subjective sleep quality (p = 0.037) and the frequency of arousals from sleep (p = 0.03).

Conclusion: In an experimental model of transient insomnia in young healthy individuals, broadband sound administration significantly reduced sleep onset latency by 38% compared to normal environmental noise. These findings suggest that broadband sound administration might be helpful to minimize insomnia symptoms in selected individuals.

Keywords: effective sleep aids; filtered white noise; increased arousal threshold; insomnia alternative treatments; sleep onset latency.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagram of the clinical trial.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Latency to stage 2 sleep modification between nights. Background sound administration significantly reduced N2 latency by 38% as compared to the control night. The subjects who subjectively improved on the treatment night [change in VAS > 0] exhibited a significant median reduction (42%) of N2 sleep latency, while the others did not. Note that the y-axis is presented in logarithmic scale. VAS, visual analog scale; N2, non-rapid-eye movement stage 2.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Subjects’ sleep architecture from both nights. Data are expressed as median [interquartile range]. The administration of broadband sound increased NREM1 sleep but had no significant effect on the other sleep stages.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Factors explaining the improvement in the subjective sleep quality. The VAS improvement resulted to have a direct relationship with the arousal index reduction between nights. The diminished number of arousals on the noise arm could have improved the subjective quality of sleep on the same night. VAS, visual analog scale.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Clinical predictors of the subjective sleep quality improvement. The sleep latency component of the PSQI was found to be related to the VAS improvement: subjects who complained of insomnia were more likely to exhibit a better improvement in perceived sleep quality when broadband sound was administered. Data are expressed as median [interquartile range]. VAS, visual analog scale; PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.
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