Some people like to fall asleep to natural sounds. If you are one of them, you may be giving your brain a boost without realizing it. Sound simulation is a memory enhancer.
Pink Noise and Memory
You’ve probably heard of white noise. It’s one of the best ways to put a racing mind or a colicky baby to sleep. But, have you heard of pink noise? Like white noise, except pink is a spectrum of frequencies that decreases in intensity. Sometimes referred to as the sound of the universe, pink noise is what you hear with certain nature sounds like a rainstorm.
As you sleep, your brain assimilates memory to long-term storage. Pink noise can lead to improved deep sleep. It also helps stimulate the memory.
This pink noise synchronized with the rhythm of the brain leads to a deeper sleep which in turn helps with memory recall. The trick is aligning the sounds to an individual’s neuron’s firing in the brain. When both brain and sounds are in sync, your brain can consolidate memories easier.
Pink noise as a memory enhancer was tested on both younger and older individuals with positive results. The scientific community is especially excited about the applications for older individuals. There is a potential to use this at home for those suffering age-related memory decline as well as early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Final Thoughts
Though scientists used sounds patterned after the individual brain waves of their participants, you can still use pink noise to sleep at home. Ambient or nature sounds, or really anything that helps you get a good night’s sleep is good for the brain. This, in turn, is good for how effectively the brain processes memories. Sound simulation is a memory enhancer.
So, until they market the clinical version, what you use nightly will work just fine.
