Deep Sleep Stimulation
A Revolutionary Finding in Sleep Science
Delta Waves
Before getting into deep sleep stimulation, we need to understand the role that delta waves play in regenerating the brain. Our brain waves in deep sleep have these long-burst brain waves that are very different from our waking life brain waves. These long-burst brain waves are called delta waves. Deep sleep measurement occurs using electrodes attached to the skull. When we don’t get the deep sleep we need, it inhibits our ability to learn and for our cells and bodies to recover. Deep sleep is how we convert all those interactions that we make during the day into our long-term memory and personalities. As we get older, we’re more likely to lose these regenerative delta waves. So in way, deep sleep and delta waves are actually a marker for biological youth.
Scientific Validation of Deep Sleep Stimulation
SleepSpace is leveraging cutting edge neuroscience research with a grant we received from the National Institute of Aging. In the grant we describe a system we are developing that uses sound to make sleep more regenerative, improve memory, and next day cognition. The grant is entitled, non pharmacological improvement of sleep structure in older people . The goal of the grant is designed to develop a deep sleep stimulation system on accessible consumer devices such as the Apple Watch, Fitbit, Google Watch, and Oura Ring. Below are real brainwaves with the timing of our audio stimulation in the bottom panel. You can see that when the sound plays we are able to produce more regenerative delta waves. We have validated this finding in a peer reviewed publication. This technology is available for premium users of our iPhone and Android app and works best with the SleepSpace Smart Bed because it enables us to more precisely play the deep sleep stimulation sounds to one side of the bed. This is important because many people do not like sleeping with cumbersome earbuds.
Deep sleep stimulation with sound
10 years of cutting edge research has demonstrated that sounds can be used to entrain the brain into deeper sleep. In two of these studies, human subjects were stimulated during sleep with brief tones (50 millisecond duration) that were played via headphones or speakers between 0.8 and 2 Hz, a rate that approximated the natural cellular oscillation of cortical neurons during sleep. The auditory stimulation led to higher slow wave power compared to the flanking periods during which the stimulation was not present, with increases in slow wave power present during all 3 sleep cycles. Interestingly, tones were effective in increasing slow waves not only at the beginning of the night, when slow waves are more abundant, but even more effective later in the night when slow waves are typically fewer and smaller.
Two other papers also tested the effect of tones presented at a slow rate on SWA. When auditory stimulation started during wakefulness, before sleep, and continued for the first 90 min of sleep, it significantly delayed sleep onset. However, once sleep was established, 0.8-Hz stimulation significantly increased and entrained endogenous slow oscillation activity. This effect was stronger when auditory stimulation was given in phase with the ongoing rhythmic occurrence of slow oscillation up states. Importantly, the enhancement of declarative memory by auditory stimulation was observed in a paired-associated learning task, whereas sham stimulation did not enhance the retention of word-pair memories.
Our lab then replicated these findings. We showed that in a laboratory environment, a sleep technician could systematically administer deep sleep stimulation sounds that result in increased delta wave frequency. We are now in the process of validating this in a home environment using devices like the Apple Watch, Oura Ring, and Muse headset.
Check out SleepSpace CEO Dr. Dan Gartenberg's TED talk entitled, “The brain benefits of deep sleep – and how to get more of it,” with more than 4 million views
How to Use Deep Sleep Stimulation in SleepSpace
If you turn on the deep sleep stimulation mode in SleepSpace it will play the deep sleep frequency at the right time and volume in sleep. We can do this accurately in three different scenarios 1) With an Apple Watch, 2) With the SleepSpace Smart Bed, or 3) With your phone place on your mattress. We play the deep sleep stimulation sound loud enough for your brain to process it, but reduce the volume if we detect an awakening. In this way, we can play the sound to enhance your regenerative delta wave sleep. Below is a graphical representation of how it works.
Citations
Riedner B.A., Bellesi M., Hulse B.K., Santostasi G., Ferrarelli F., Cirelli C., and Tononi G. (2013) Enhancing slow waves using acoustic stimuli. Sleep 36, A41.
Tononi G., Riedner B.A., Hulse B.K., Ferrarelli F., and Sarasso S. (2010) Enhancing sleep slow waves with natural stimuli. MedicaMundi 54, 73-79.
Ngo H.V., Claussen J.C., Born J., and Molle M. (2013) Induction of slow oscillations by rhythmic acoustic stimulation. J. Sleep Res. 22, 22-31.
Ngo H.V., Martinetz T., Born J., and Molle M. (2013) Auditory closed-loop stimulation of the sleep slow oscillation enhances memory. Neuron 78, 545-553.
Schade, M. M., Mathew, G. M., Roberts, D. M., Gartenberg, D. & Buxton, O. M. Enhancing Slow Oscillations and Increasing N3 Sleep Proportion with Supervised, Non-Phase-Locked Pink Noise and Other Non-Standard Auditory Stimulation During NREM Sleep (2020). Nature and Science of Sleep. PDF