Effects of listening to music when sleeping

cormie

Hi,
Is there any proven medical studies that there are negative effects of listening to music when asleep? I listen to music on average 16 hours every 24 hours, about 8 of these are when I'm asleep. Should I just set the timer so it turns off after say an hour giving me 7 hours of silence?

Any feedback (especially reputable links to medical studies) appreciated:)

Pigman II

I can't imagine the effects are positive. Do you leave it on until you nod off like people who fall in front of the tv etc and thats why you're 'listening' to it for 8 hours a night?

Also what type of music are you listening to? Classical has been shown to increase IQ where as purcussive rock/dance music has been shown to lower it.

Fusion251

cormie wrote:

Hi,
Is there any proven medical studies that there are negative effects of listening to music when asleep? I listen to music on average 16 hours every 24 hours, about 8 of these are when I'm asleep. Should I just set the timer so it turns off after say an hour giving me 7 hours of silence?

Any feedback (especially reputable links to medical studies) appreciated:)

Listening to soft music is meant to be good for people who have trouble sleeping to help them relax. I'm sure it depends on what you're listening to...I remember having this book "Effortless Mastery" which comes with a Meditation CD telling you how good of a musician you are with piano music in the background. I listened to that cd when I was going asleep for a while and it worked pretty well...Past my exams and now I'm brainwashed into thinking I'm at one with my guitar!!

Fusion
:cool:

dalk

Cormie, if the music isn't keeping you awake or waking you up at night, then its probably having no effect on you what so ever... Personally i find it almost impossible to sleep if their is music playing in the background. And if i do fall asleep i am constantly woken by the music, leading to a very bad nights sleep.

Classical has been shown to increase IQ where as percussive rock/dance music has been shown to lower it.

This is rubbish. The so-called "Mozart effect" was refined recently (with some rubbishing it completely). Firstly, if there is any performance boost, it only seems to improve 'Spatial ability' (if at all), not your IQ in general. Secondly, further studies have shown that major key up-tempo music in general, lifts mood and improves test performances, if listened to before a test. Minor-key down tempo music affected test performance. It didn't matter whether the music was classical/rock/whatever... The tempo/key/mood were critical. This is because it has been found that people score better in cognitive exams when they are in a 'good mood'. Music that helps put them in a good mood means their exam results improve... So music that puts you in a good mood, might improve your IQ.

So no, listening to classical music is not a magic bullet to improving your IQ. Though regular head banging to speed metal would probably not do you brain much good...

And i think 'air-guitar' makes you look stupid at least.

cormie

Hi,
Thanks for the replies. Interesting theory about the classical music whether it has been proven or not. However, just because it's classical, doesn't mean it's slow. Anyway, I have a "night" playlist on my mp3 player which has the likes of Enya, classical guitar and lute music, which is mostly slow, calm and relaxed. I have other mellow music too on it, nothing heavy. I have been woken up some times by the music, an odd song on an album could be heavy, the heavy songs wouldn't always wake me up though.

I've heard stories about them sleep CD's you can get to improve your general well being, do any of them work? Did that "Effortless Mastery" cd have a definite effect?

Fusion251

I can't say really, yes it did make me feel better about my playing I suppose but maybe the 4 hours a day practice was a factor in that as well..I'd like to say it definitly did but tbh I don't know...

Fusion

John

I am a neuroscientist and I've never seen anything in the literature about negative or positive effects due to listening to music while sleeping. It's some you'll just get used to and sleep through just like any other noise like traffic or bird calls.

The Mozart effect is indeed rubbish. The original study was a bit ropey and it's never stood up to other studies. Although listening to music and reading around and doing other things to exercise your brain is a good thing but not dramatic in its effect. I'm talking about over a lifetime.

And those sleep CDs to improve your wellbeing are another load of muck that are just money making scams. Save your money for music you actually want and not that sort of crap.

cormie

Thanks for that. So there is no definite study or proof of the effects yet?

John

None and as far as I know nobody is doing any research of interest at the moment either.

Stark

What about risk of growing dependant on the music to fall asleep? You hear about people moving from the city to the country and being unable to sleep for a few nights due to the lack of traffic noise. I reckon the same could easily be true of falling asleep to music.

Then again, I guess if it comes down to it, you just lose a few night's good sleep after you stop with the music.

John

To be honest, it's not something that you wouldn't get used to after a short while. When you're tired you quickly become accustomed to a lack of noise.

cormie

I think for me to be away from music would mean that I would be away from my every day general activities and stresses. I can sleep without music and tend to sleep quite well. So there is no definite whether it is better to sleep with or without music? Could sleeping without music have any benefits other than if it is a heavy song that happens to play, it will wake you? I've also dreamt of music before. As in, I could be somewhere and the song that would be playing there would be whatever I'm listening to.

John

It could but I've never seen any reports about it. Perhaps you should apply for a research grant and make a name for yourself

Stark

I guess a sudden change in the tempo of the music, slow song to fast song might cause you to go from a deeper stage of sleep to a lighter one, meaning you get a less refreshing night. But if it was calming music throughout, or even loudish but regular music throughout, then your brain would just start filtering it as background noise.

BaZmO*

I would imagine that the effect adverse effect it would have is if the music was too loud and the constant bombardment would have a detrimental effect on your hearing. Other than that you're the only that knows if it's effecting you, i.e. tiredness from lack of sleep, etc.

B.

cormie

Just another thing to take into consideration here. What about the way that your brain needs rest and if you had music on during the night, would your brain still be processing the music subconsciously meaning your brain isn't gettin a full nights sleep at all?

John

Your brain is still completely active during the night, in fact at times it's probably working more than it is during the day.

cormie

So would giving it music to listen to not be worse for it still?

John

Not that I can tell or have seen from any research. Think about people who live beside motorways, there's constant noise through the night but they don't suffer anymore from any disorders/problems compared to "norms".

cormie

but a car is a flat sound, a song has lyrics, different instruments etc etc.. Would this make a difference?

John

I doubt it. The odd bit might disturb your sleep but no more than hearing the odd dog bark or cat screeching outside would.

cormie

Would it make a difference if I said I've had dreams where the music I was listening to was the soundtrack to it and in other cases if I was in a venue of some sort, the music I'd be listening to would be playing through the venues sound system? This means my brain is processing what I'm hearing you know?

John

That's fairly normal, like when you have a dream with something beeping in it only to find it's your alarm clock influencing your dream. Your hearing isn't turned off when you sleep but that doesn't mean that sounds will cause problems for you. Seriously, if you're worried about it stop for a while and see if it makes a difference to you.

EvilPixieOne

It's been proven that listening to anything makes you more tired during the daytime, so maybe it makes your sleep less effective at night too? I don't study it or anything, but it seems a bit pointless to have the music playing anyway when your asleep. I listen to the radio going to sleep, but I set it so it will turn off after about an hour which makes alot more sense to me, and saves batteries

cormie

Alright, thanks for the feeback on this:)

John

EvilPixieOne wrote:

It's been proven that listening to anything makes you more tired during the daytime

Do you have a link for this?

cormie

EvilPixieOne wrote:

It's been proven that listening to anything makes you more tired during the daytime, so maybe it makes your sleep less effective at night too? I don't study it or anything, but it seems a bit pointless to have the music playing anyway when your asleep. I listen to the radio going to sleep, but I set it so it will turn off after about an hour which makes alot more sense to me, and saves batteries

Missed that post:o Where has this been proven?

peckerhead

Acksherly, music with a beat faster than your heartbeat tends to 'jizz you up' (and hence, presumably, disrupt your sleepfulness). Music with a slower beat, played low, has the opposite effect.

Your familiarity with the lyrics also comes into it, I believe — your brain tries to 'mouth' the next words.

So listen to slow, instrumental music, turned down low and Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......................

cormie

EvilPixieOne wrote:

It's been proven that listening to anything makes you more tired during the daytime, so maybe it makes your sleep less effective at night too? I don't study it or anything, but it seems a bit pointless to have the music playing anyway when your asleep. I listen to the radio going to sleep, but I set it so it will turn off after about an hour which makes alot more sense to me, and saves batteries

Interesting alright. If you could dig up some studies I'd be very grateful:)

cormie

peckerhead wrote:

Acksherly, music with a beat faster than your heartbeat tends to 'jizz you up' (and hence, presumably, disrupt your sleepfulness). Music with a slower beat, played low, has the opposite effect.

Your familiarity with the lyrics also comes into it, I believe — your brain tries to 'mouth' the next words.

So listen to slow, instrumental music, turned down low and Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......................

Hmmm again, are these all theories or proven studies though?