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On the Internet, you can increasingly find articles and videos that some kind of “brown noise” helps a person fall asleep faster. They are gaining a bunch of views, and this is not surprising – a huge number of people experience sleep problems. After watching the video, men and women try to turn on recordings with hissing sounds before going to bed and are divided into two camps. Half of people find that brown noise makes them fall asleep more easily. The other half assures that everything said on the videos is a lie, the hissing sound annoys them and even more prevents them from falling asleep. Why do people react so differently to brown noise? And in general, what is it and does it really have a beneficial effect on sleep?
What is white noise, pink noise and brown noise
If you love reading articles about productivity, you are a parent of a small child, or just an inquisitive person, this topic is probably familiar to you. Many sources say that brown noise, white noise, pink noise and other sound shades can help people in some situations. For example, you may have heard that white noise helps to focus on work and is good for the sleep of young children – YouTube is full of videos like “White noise for children’s sleep” and so on.
The Internet Is Full of White Noise Recordings Claimed to Improve Babies’ Sleep
The difference between white, pink and brown noise
White noise, brown noise, pink noise, and other “colorful” sounds are noise whose spectral components are evenly distributed over the entire frequency range. In general, they sound the same – hiss. But at the same time, there are differences in pitch or purity between them.
white noise spectrum
In white noise, the frequencies are distributed evenly – it includes low, medium and high frequencies that are at the same level and sounds like radio interference.
What does white noise sound like?
Pink noise has more low frequency sounds and less high frequency sounds. It is lower in tone and deeper than white noise, and resembles the sound of rain.
What does pink noise sound like?
Brown noise is made up of even lower frequencies than white and pink noise. Its sound can be compared to the flow of a stormy river.
What does brown noise sound like?
If you don’t understand, play the videos above one by one and compare them. You will definitely notice the difference and similarity with radio interference, rain and river noise.
Benefits of Brown Noise
Many sources say that if you listen to brown noise before going to bed, you can fall asleep easier. In fact, scientists have never studied the effects of brown noise on sleep , according to Science Alert. However, there are several studies on the effects of white and pink noise on humans. For example, in 2021, scientists concluded that white and pink noise can actually help you fall asleep faster and improve sleep quality in general. And in 2022, pink noise was found to improve deep sleep in older adults.
Noise really helps some people fall asleep faster.
In fact, the results of all these scientific works do not inspire much confidence. Everyone is different and what is good for one may be bad for another. Someone is tolerant of external stimuli, and someone literally loses his temper from harsh sounds and smells. This may explain why brown noise helps some people fall asleep and only annoys others.
How to fall asleep quickly at night
In general, you can try listening to brown noise before going to bed . It is believed that this kind of sounds can distract from disturbing thoughts, mask the voices of neighbors behind the wall, and so on. In addition, it was noted above that white and pink noise help improve sleep for some people – maybe you are one of them? Only it is better not to listen to these sounds all night, because their effect on the body has not been studied very well and you need to act carefully. To stop the noise from sounding after you fall asleep, you can set a shutdown timer – this feature is available in almost all music services and players.
Sleeping with headphones can be harmful, so it’s better to turn on the noise on external speakers
For long-term sleep problems, it is recommended to see a doctor, because it is often impossible to solve them simply by listening to noise or relaxing music. But sleep is very important for the human body, and scientists constantly remind us of this. Recently, we spoke about how regular lack of sleep makes people greedy.
So, do you believe that brown and other types of noise help people fall asleep faster? Or do you think it’s all a stupid myth? Write in the comment section.
