1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: Hi brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here with another classic episode 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: from our archives. This one has to do with the 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: sometimes tricky subject of sleep and why some people sleep 5 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: way easier with a fan whirring in their bedroom. Hey, 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: they're brain stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. Chances are you know 7 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: at least a few people who rely on the whirr 8 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: of a fan to get a good night's rest. You 9 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: might be one of them yourself. The effect that a 10 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: fan provides during sleeping is similar to white noise. We 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: spoke with Kelsey Allen, a sleep expert with Matros manufacturers 12 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: sleep Train, in an email interview. They said people who 13 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 1: sleep with a fan are capitalizing on what we call 14 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: white noise. Just like white light, which encompasses all the 15 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: colors on the spectrum, white noise encompasses all sound frequencies 16 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: within typical human hearing. Technically true, white noise is generated 17 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: only electronically, but ambient noises like fans, distant cicadas, or 18 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: gentle rain can produce a similar effect. So what's going 19 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: on in the brains of folks who need fans that 20 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 1: makes them different from others. The answer likely lies and 21 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: how our brains are wired. Sleep spindles in particular, seem 22 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: to be the key. These are spikes of neural activity 23 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: that can be seen on electro and cephalogram tests A 24 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: K A e G S and present as short brain 25 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: wave bursts that cause a spike or spindle to form 26 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,479 Speaker 1: on the e G. Reading. Research indicates that people who 27 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: experience sleep spindles more often have a better defense against 28 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: outside noise than those who don't experience frequent sleep spindles. 29 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: And spindles don't come and go based on what you 30 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: eat for dinner or whether you're anxious about something happening tomorrow. 31 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: A person sleep spindle production is likely to be static 32 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: across time. How to sleep spindles accomplish this enviable feat 33 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: of blocking noise, These spindles are produced in the portion 34 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: of the brain called the thalamus, which is the area 35 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: that all sound and sensory information must visit before being 36 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: farmed out. Researchers think these spindles, these spikes of neural 37 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: activity actually run into the sounds and block them from 38 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: way king a person up. Since sleep spindles are more 39 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: common during R E M sleep, they're most successful at 40 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: completing this task during such phases. One study out of 41 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: Korea used optogenetics, that's control of both light and gene 42 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,359 Speaker 1: expression to influence sleep spindle production in mice. The scientists 43 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: found that an increase in sleep spindles was correlated with 44 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: an increase in n R E M sleep a k 45 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: A deep sleep. Thus, they concluded that effective modulation of 46 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: sleep spindles could actually hold the key for curing patients 47 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: with sleep issues, though further research is required. No one 48 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: knows for sure why some people have rock star sleep 49 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: spindles while others suffer through the curse of light sleeping. 50 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: But it is often the change in sound rather the 51 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: sound itself that wakes up the brain. And although you 52 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: can get a white noise effect from a sound machine 53 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: or even a m radio static a fan has the 54 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,359 Speaker 1: extra advantage of cooling you down notes. Dr Kevin Gaffney, 55 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: a neurologist and sleep medical director at the Emissioner Neuroscience Center. 56 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: He told us your normal body temperature of point eight 57 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: degrees not nine point six, drops by one to two 58 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: degrees at night. If you have to struggle to lower 59 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: your body temperature, this can decrease your sleep quality. Today's 60 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: episode was written by Alia Hoyt and produced by Tristan 61 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: Neil and Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots 62 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: of other topics, is it how stuff works dot com. 63 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio or a 64 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: podcast from my heart Radio. Visit the I heart Radio app, 65 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,639 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.