Ambient Music's Effect on Sleep

Abstract

Listening to music is a commonly accepted means of reducing stress and enhancing relaxation, and while studies exist detailing music’s effect on the human mind while awake, there is a lack of study on its effect during sleep. By forgoing research on music’s effect on sleep, the possibility of improving sleep through non-pharmaceutical means is reduced, thus imposing more expensive, side-effect ridden treatments onto people suffering from sleep problems. Since studies show that music is a positive stimulus to human emotion, one raises questions of how emotion changes during times of inactive thought and analysis of surroundings. This connection between human emotion and music inspires promise of enhancing sleep for people with both chronic and temporary sleep abnormalities. By introducing ambient music to young adults prior to sleep, or by slowly introducing music during sleep, one enhances sleep quality while minimizing negative consequences.

Ambient Music’s Effect on Sleep in Young Adults

Discussion

First, one must identify and classify problems associated with sleep loss. Most commonly, “sleep disorders can result in tiredness, fatigue, depression, greater anxiety, irritability, pain sensitivity, muscle tremors, immunosuppression, and lack of daytime alertness” (Lai, & Good, 2005). As a result, those experiencing sleep issues are plagued with continuing problems, often with no simple solution available. Since “sleep quality is a very important factor in quality of life,” a significant amount of research is devoted to the treatment of sleep disorders (Harmat, Takacs, & Bodizs, 2008). Such research has lead to the development of pharmaceutical solutions; however, medicinal solutions may not alwa...

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...he subject’s heart rate, respiratory rate, and any abnormalities noticed, again tabulating and plotting it against the other two groups’ data.

Conclusion

By examining music’s effect on stress reduction and sleep quality, it is expected that a direct relationship between the two will emerge. One anticipates that the sleep quality of subjects listening to music will increase when compared to subjects not listening to music, though it is unclear how sleep quality is affected by the time in which music is introduced. Such results enforce the strength of non-pharmaceutical treatments as valid forms of therapy for low risk, common recurring sleep problems. By continuing research on this and similar studies, one reduces the cost, side effects, and inconveniences associated with pharmaceutical remedies, replacing them with more readily available, risk free treatments.