Keep it down! Sleeping brains are on the lookout for unfamiliar voices
Though it seems logical, using a different voice around someone who is sleeping may actually disturb their sleep more than just using our regular voices, according to a new study.
Swiss and Austrian researchers have found that when we’re asleep, our brains respond to unfamiliar voices more than familiar ones, after detecting large-scale brain activity and an increase in brain waves linked to sensory disturbances during sleep.
The study, published in the journal JNeurosci, saw University of Salzburg researchers monitor the brain activity of sleeping adults in response to familiar and unfamiliar voices.
Though both familiar and unfamiliar voices triggered the particular type of brain wave - called K-complexes - the researchers found that more of these brain waves were triggered by unfamiliar voices, which were accompanied by changes in brain activity linked to sensory processing.
Interestingly, reactions to the unknown voices decreased as the night wore on and as the voices became more familiar. This suggests that our brains may still be able to learn while we’re asleep.
The team also suggest that the brain waves they detected allow our brains to enter a “sentinel processing mode” while we snooze, which allows our brains to stay asleep but still be able to respond to stimuli in our environment.
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