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Ahhh.
Ever notice that you sleep like a baby on a hammock? Maybe it's just the slow, soothing rocking motion that reminds grown-ups of being in a parent's arms until their little eyelids finally close.
Inspired by that concept, some Swiss scientists decided to examine the idea of rocking a person to sleep. Researchers wondered whether the see-sawing movement would make adults drift off sooner and how it affected sleep quality.
So they developed an "experimental hammock" -- a custom-made bed that gently swayed from side to side. They asked 12 participants, all of them men ages 22 to 38, who were all good sleepers, to take a 45-minute afternoon nap in this cradle for grown-ups.
They monitored the volunteers' brain waves throughout the nap and compared the results to having these same participants nap in the same bed without any rocking motion. The research appears in the June 21 issue of Current Biology.
"We observed a faster transition to sleep in each and every participant in the swinging condition," says Sophie Schwartz, a neuroscientist at the Sleep and Cognition Neuroimaging Lab at the University of Geneva in Switzerland and the study's lead author.
"Not only does rocking make us fall asleep more quickly, but it also makes people sleep more deeply throughout the nap," she explains.
Compared to nodding off in a stationary bed, those napping in a swinging one had a longer duration of N2 sleep, a type of non-rapid eye movement sleep that makes up about half a night's shuteye. Scientists also observed a dramatic boost in brain-wave patterns seen in deep sleep.
"Motion has specific effects on the brain, and this is precisely what our study shows," says Schwartz. Although researchers expected that rocking would make volunteers conk out sooner, they were surprised it changed the quality of sleep and in such a sustained manner.
Now that they've seen how rocking affects a short nap in healthy adults, the next step is to see how it benefits an entire night's sleep. Other questions they might research include whether the brain changes seen in adults from rocking are also observed in babies, whether motion improves sleep in those with insomnia, and whether it has positive effects on waking performance.
Still there's no need to wait for answers. This summer, put science to the test: Find yourself a hammock or rocking chair in the shade and enjoy that time-honored tradition in some cultures -- the siesta.
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I wonder if this has a link to babies that refuse to go to sleep unless riding in a car? I think we've all known sleep deprived parents with children like that.
Both of my kids were like that. I also tend to fall asleep in a moving car or train. This hammock idea... I wonder if it is because our ancestors might have slept in the trees? Chimpanzees make "nests" and sleep in the trees.
It's mostly based on fluid movements while we're in the womb. We were rocked back and forth in a water bed for approximately 9 months. It's comforting to humans.
Absolutely. One of my children was like that, he just would not go to sleep unless it was in a car. We took frequent late night escursions.
Personally I can't fall asleep in a car or a plane. However, I don't take naps in my bed either, I prefer the easy chair which, when fully reclined, does do a small amount of rocking. I take very good naps in that chair.
I'd like to shove Marc Weissbluth's nose in this one. (For those not familiar, he is the author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child who is staunchly against relying on motion for sleeping once a baby is older than 4 months, as it is "not restoritave sleep.")
I read the same thing about motion not being conducive to restorative sleep. The article alludes to it, but the author doesn't seem to know what to make of it. Motion increases the time spent in stage 4 "deep" sleep, but stage 3 "REM" sleep is actually responsible for making a person feel rested. Physiologically, they believe that the brain processes and organizes information from the day during this stage, and in fact people who are chronically deprived of REM will experience psychosis. Stage 4 sleep is not restful sleep... it's deep sleep, during which time the brain is not recuperating. It's just unconscious.
I thought about the idea of a "rocking bed" a long time ago and thought an inventer could make lots of money at it. It's a pretty simple theory that both kids and adults can be lulled by a rocking motion. If you've ever fallen asleep on a rocking cruise ship, you'll know exactly how relaxing it is.
I think the reason this works is because it stimulates a part of the brain that is activated as we "fall asleep." Have you ever wondered why we use such expressions like "fall asleep" or "drift off to sleep"? If you stay aware when you go to sleep at night, you will notice a feeling of movement or sinking as you fall asleep.
Thus at times when I can't sleep, I will induce a feeling of drifting or sinking down and it often helps me get to sleep. I have always been underwhelmed about advice books give on sleep and have peraonally developed many more ways that work for me than ever read about in books.
Overall I can't understand why more research isn't done on sleep, given we spend 1/3 of our lives doing it, plus I can't tell you how many people have physical illnesses just because they can't sleep well. And no, "sleeping pills" aren't the answer. It works, but is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer - you go out, but it is not quality sleep. Better than nothing, but come on, we can do better!
Maybe sleeping in trees for a few million years is related:)
I can vouch for this study, after getting an hammock this year. As for my sleep patterns, I've always had problems with sleeping, falling asleep, staying asleep, etc., and I am certainly not much of a napper, so you can imagine my surprise when I found myself waking up from an unintended nap I had while I was being swayed in my hammock by the wind (yeah, its not exactly hammock weather yet here in WA, but a blanket helped:)
I have a hammock and used to live in Seattle. During the summer months (when there was construction going on on every block) I would come home from work, grab a beer, go lay down in the hammock and be napping within 15 minutes. Hammocks are awesome.
Now I need to figure how to make my king size bed rock...
This study does make sense.
Spent 14 years in the British Royal Navy. 9 of them sleeping in a hammock, always the best sleep, always.
Too tempting! The best nap I ever had was in a hammock at a beach house. I just bought a free standing hammock, which I plan to put in my bedroom directly under the ceiling fan! I plan to thoroughly test this out and enjoy every minute of it.
I took my first cruise and totally loved how I slept, the rocking motion was really great. When I got home I really found it hard to go to sleep for several nites.
Sleeping in a hammock kills my back
So *that's* what they mean in rock songs when they sing "Rock me all night long."
Suprised that no one has mentioned how similar a waterbed is when it is semi-waveless and you just get that gentle motion and the warmth combined. And I always found it better for my back than a regular mattress.
A hammock bed is one of the curious parts of a ghost story.
One of the oldest ships in the Navy, the USS Constellation, is tied up at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. A Catholic Priest, visiting it late, went below and a man dressed in a early 1800's sailor's uniform explained the ship to him, including a strange hole in a beam. The sailor explained that hole used to hold a large eye-hook that held one end of a few hammocks in place when the area around it was converted into beds at night.
The Priest returned to the main deck and thanked the workers for the excellent quality of the tour guide. "Father," one said, "No one but you was below deck."
They searched the ship, found no one, and wondered if the Priest was pulling their legs until he pointed out the hole in the beam. It turned out that had been a puzzle and no one knew what it had been for. The Priest's explanation made perfect sense.
It's a little scary to think that people who are wide awake when they step into the driver's seat will be gently rocked as they drive miles down the highway...
You must have driven I10 in Louisiana
Served in the U.S. Navy for 6 years. Some of the best sleep of my life was while on the boat and underway.
is it the motion or the fact that there aren't any pressure points on your body except for the hammock itself.
This is nothing new, we knew about it in Asia when I was growing up. The hammock was the best place to power nap after lunch before going back to work.
It takes all this research when all you have to do is ask the Chinese. They have been doing this for years and they are one of the hardest working people in the world.
I've always slept the best on cruise ships and have attributed that to the rocking motion on the water. I have tried to figure out how to get my bed to rock before. Hopefully some inventor will pick up on this
The sample size was 12 people! How can that study even approach being statistically significant? I call this a lazy study and a premature conclusion. How hard can it be to find more than 12 volunteers to take a nap?
It's a lazy study...on a lazy subject. ;)
Sounds like a case of sea sick waiting to happen.
As every baby knows, being rocked in mommy's or daddy's arms is the best way to fall asleep.
Thanks for sharing this info! I just featured it in an article I wrote on Power Naps for Power Women. Here's the link:
This article makes complete sense! I actually read the scientific study behind it and the data supports this concept irrefutably.
I recently bought this amazing lounger that is extremely comfortable and provides this hammock type side to side affect. I recommend it all! Was from a company called "Wt Furniture."