Music Therapy for Sleep, Good or Bad for you?

Written by Kristina Kang

Do you struggle with falling asleep and/or staying asleep? Try looking into sleep therapy as a potential way to help you get the rest you deserve!
     Music can do more than be a source of entertainment; research has shown that it can aid in falling asleep. The amount of sleep someone gets directly impacts their quality of life due to its impact on physical and mental health. Unfortunately, sleep disturbances are becoming more common as people age and amongst those with psychiatric disorders. Its benefit is also dependent on one’s age, gender, preference, musical training, and cultural belonging. These factors along with music preference and culture will influence the music-listening experience. Lastly, the use of sleep enabling medicine has been associated with decreasing effectiveness over time and could lead to addiction in some users. 
    Music is able to reduce sympathetic nervous system activity, which is the body’s fight or flight responses, and decrease anxiety, blood pressure, heart, and respiratory rate. It can induce sleep by muscle relaxation and distracting one’s thoughts. For instance, one three-week study showed that students who listened to classical music for 45 minutes at bedtime had better global sleep quality in the second and third week than those who did not. 
    Do you think music isn't right for you? Other studies have shown that audiobooks can result in similar results. Both speech and music can be characterized by the following parameters: pitch, duration, loudness, rhythmic metrical structure, continuous, articulation, and timbre. Broca’s area, an area in your brain known for its syntactical processing in language, is activated by music, and speech activates the information similarly. 
    One study examined the effect of 432 Hz music while sleeping and discovered that those who listened to the music had more alpha waves in the brain during their daytime nap. Alpha waves represent the relaxed state of mind. Therefore, more alpha waves would coincide with less brain activity. It also shows an improvement in sleep latency, which is the time it takes for someone to fall asleep. Benefits also increase when participants listen to music as a habit or routine. This is because, from a psychological perspective, your brain begins to pair music with good sleep quality. In other words, music, a conditioned stimulus, being paired with going to sleep, an unconditioned stimulus, evokes a healthy sleep routine. After several nights, or “dosages”, this forms a strong association in one’s brain and the music becomes a sleep-inducing stimulus. 

     However, it must be noted that earbuds or headphones should not be worn in bed. Not only would it be uncomfortable, but you risk hurting your ear canal. A new technology has been created for this purpose, called a pillow speaker. In this technology, small internal speakers are placed inside the pillow and the user can select their music choice through a smartphone application. 
    However, some potential downsides have been noted. One study found that those who regularly listen to music before they sleep reported having frequent earworms, which are involuntary musical imagery. Earworms keep your brain awake at night, diminishing sleep quality. Additionally, Laurey Leadly, a clinical sleep educator, states “If the music is stimulating, it can interfere with the body’s ability to create melatonin which helps with the initiation and maintenance of sleep”. 
     Overall, listening to music before sleeping has the potential to yield several health benefits to improve one’s sleep quality. However, it is important to note that it is not beneficial for all individuals and that higher levels of benefit are experienced when classical or calm music is used. This could greatly benefit students, who often do not get enough sleep or sleep of high enough quality, or for those who have sleep-disturbing disorders. Would you consider trying this form of sleep therapy for yourself?


References:
Barnett, B. (n.d.). Can music help me sleep? WebMD. Retrieved March 12, 2022, from https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/can-music-help-me-sleep 
Cordi, M. J., Ackermann, S., & Rasch, B. (2019). Effects of relaxing music on Healthy Sleep. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45608-y 
Dickson, G. T., & Schubert, E. (2020). Music on prescription to aid sleep quality: A literature review. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01695 
Fielding, S. (2021, June 25). Listening to music before bed may disrupt sleep. Verywell Mind. Retrieved March 12, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/listening-to-music-before-bed-may-disrupt-sleep-5189417 
Jha, K., Dubey, P., Kumar, Y., Singh, R., & Kumar, R. (2019). Effect of music of specific frequency upon the sleep architecture and electroencephalographic pattern of individuals with delayed sleep latency: A daytime NAP Study. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8(12), 3915. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_575_19 
Lund, H. N., Pedersen, I. N., Johnsen, S. P., Heymann-Szlachcinska, A. M., Tuszewska, M., Bizik, G., Larsen, J. I., Kulhay, E., Larsen, A., Grønbech, B., Østermark, H., Borup, H., Valentin, J. B., & Mainz, J. (2020). Music to improve sleep quality in adults with depression-related insomnia (Mustafi): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-04247-9