Sleep
well, fan enthusiasts.
The thought of
sleeping in a completely silent room gives me an unparalleled amount of
anxiety. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been someone who requires the lull
of a whirring fan to help me fall — and stay — asleep.
There’s something
about the gentle humming sound that trumps just about any lullaby — and I know
there are many people out there who vehemently agree with me. However, it
wasn’t until recently that I became aware of the science
behind my dependency.
The power of white
noise
The main reason we
rely on a trusty fan to get a good night’s sleep is less about temperature and
more about white noise. White noise essentially works to mask the difference
between background sounds and “peak” sounds (such as an ambulance siren or a
door slamming) to maintain more consistency in your environment.
According to the
National Sleep Foundation, white noise
can be a game changer for light sleepers, because it gives them a chance to
sleep through the night. White noise creates a constant ambient sound that
reduces disturbances such as a floorboard creaking or a dog barking, peak
sounds that would be disruptive to an otherwise undisturbed slumber.
The role of “sleep
spindles”
So what causes fan
enthusiasts to typically be categorized as light sleepers, while there are
others who could sleep through road traffic, construction work, or perhaps a
category one hurricane? It all comes down to differences in brain wiring, and
more specifically, sleep spindles.
According to the
American Psychological Association (APA), sleep spindles are brief
bursts that wax and wane rapidly, producing visible spikes on
electroencephalogram (EEG) tests — these spikes (or spindles) are how sleep
spindles got their name.
The more sleep
spindles someone experiences, the better defense they have against intrusive,
outside noise.
According to research
published in Cell Press, the more sleep spindles someone experiences, the
better defense they have against intrusive, outside noise, which is why people
who rely on fans to sleep often have a lower production of sleep spindles in
their brains.
Sleep spindles occur
during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which takes place toward the end of the
night (between the sixth and eighth hours of sleep, according to the APA) and
is crucial to replenishing neurotransmitters in the brain. The regeneration of
these neurotransmitters is essential in a healthy brain that is capable of
learning, remembering, performing and problem solving.
“Sleeping fewer than
six hours may block sleep spindles and stop new information from entering
long-term memory, which helps acts such as a golf swing become automatic,”
James B. Maas, PhD, a professor and former chairman of the psychology
department at Cornell University told the APA.
Why do some people
produce more sleep spindles than others?
According to
HowStuffWorks, there’s no definitive
answer as to why some people produce a plentitude of sleep spindles
(and thus are luxuriously deep sleepers), while others are spindle-deprived
light sleepers, devoted to fans in order to create a consistent, sound sleeping
environment.
However, if it’s the
lull of your trusty fan and its subsequent white noise that has worked for you
so far, there’s no reason to change your routine. Plus, it helps create a
cooler overall environment, which is proven to be effective in boosting sleep hygiene.
Sweet dreams, fan devotees.
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