Premium
The Effects of Continuous, High Intensity, White Noise on the Human Sleep Cycle
Author(s) -
Scott Thomas D.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1972.tb00757.x
Subject(s) - psychology , audiology , sleep (system call) , rapid eye movement sleep , quiet , zoology , developmental psychology , medicine , eye movement , biology , neuroscience , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , operating system
Eight male college students slept for 8 consecutive nights under conditions of 93 ± 2 dB white noise (N) and under normal quiet conditions (Q). On N nights the percentage of total sleep time spent in stage REM was decreased ( p < .001), the percentages of stages 1 and 2 were increased ( p < .05, p < .001, respectively) and REM latency was increased ( p < .02) compared to Q nights prior to N nights. On Q nights following N nights the percentages of stage REM increased above baseline levels indicating compensatory recovery effects from REM sleep deprivation on the prior N nights. Stages 3 and 4 remained unchanged throughout the study. The reduction in stage REM on N nights was directly attributed to the effects of noise on the CNS and not a secondary result of an increased number of awakenings on N nights.