Have you ever had the experience of "when you are lying in bed, any disturbance in the room will keep you awake"? (Don’t ask, just ask!)
I belong to this kind of person. I have to wait until everyone at home turns off the lights to go to sleep before I can slowly fall asleep...
Therefore, I especially envy those people who lie down in bed, no matter how noisy outside , can sleep like a dead pig. What kind of person are you?
If these two types of people live under the same roof, you can expect a battle war between the two sides! One party thinks the other party is "too pretentious", while the other party will retort that the other party is "heartless"!
What is the difference between these two types of people? Let’s reveal the mystery to you today!
1.
It actually has the final say whether you will be woken up while sleeping!
In fact, not only are we interested in this question, researchers also want to know the answer. Therefore, in 2010, Massachusetts General Hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School conducted a series of sleep monitoring studies on "12 people who can sleep soundly anywhere"!
Researchers will "bomb" these deep sleepers every night with 14 different noises such as phone calls, toilet flushing sounds, car horns, etc., starting from 40 decibels and increasing by 5 decibels every 30 seconds, reaching a maximum is 70 decibels until the person wakes up.
During this process, the performance of deep sleepers will be recorded one by one, including their brain wave status , what kind of sound and what decibel did they wake up at, etc.
The results showed that among 12 deep sleepers, there was a "great" sleep god who could not wake up at 70 decibels, while others usually woke up at 40-50 decibels.
Maybe everyone has no idea. 70 decibels is equivalent to cleaning the room with an old vacuum cleaner (which brings its own noise).
Or the sound of someone digging into the wall...
Because the sleeping god's experimental results were so outstanding, researchers studied his brain waves during sleep. Then it was discovered that what protected this sleep god from being disturbed by sounds was a neuron activity in the brain called " sleep spindle " .
What is "sleep spindle"? It is actually a denser high-frequency waveform tested during sleep.
The pattern marked in the middle of the second line is the sleep spindle
Source: International academic journal "Current Biology"
Before this, sleep spindles were known to have the effect of consolidating memory, but after this study, it was found that sleep spindles are high-frequency brain waves that can effectively filter environmental noise, and the better a person's sleep spindles are If more, he will sleep more deeply and be less likely to be woken up by noise.
However, regarding the principle of sleep spindles blocking noise, Harvard researchers suggested that this is likely because sleep spindles block the transmission of sensory information from the thalamus to the cerebral cortex. To put it simply, sleep spindles are equivalent to adding active noise-cancelling earplugs to your brain.
The site that can produce sleep spindles is the thalamus . As a signal relay station in the brain, its main function is to transmit sensory information to other parts of the cerebral cortex.
Finally, the thalamus is the key factor in the human body's ability to block noise.
This inference was confirmed by a 2011 sleep study (published in " Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences "). The study found that when people are sleeping, once sleep spindles are generated in the thalamus, sound signal transmission will be affected , if the thalamus does not produce sleep spindles, the sound can be transmitted to the auditory cortex, thus waking people up!
Of course, in addition to the inherent attributes of the brain, "will you be woken up while sleeping" is also influenced by the environment in which you grow up. After all...
2.
Everyone has different sensitivity to noisy sounds!
Some people are not easily woken up not because of the active shielding function of the brain, but because the sound emitted by does not constitute a disturbance to people, and may even be a sleep aid!
For example, the noisy sound from the downtown area is just noise to some people, but for people who have lived in the downtown area for a long time, the sound is not noisy, but can give people a sense of security and make them fall asleep quickly.
For another example, is the teacher’s explanation voice in class sometimes very hypnotic?
The most typical one is “ white noise ” to aid sleep: sounds such as lapping waves, pattering light rain, slow water flow, etc., they can "Sleep aids" all have one thing in common: the sound is regular, even and continuous, and the volume is stable .
Let’s look at other sounds. For example, mosquitoes keep buzzing in your ears before going to bed. The sound disappears and appears, louder and quieter. At this time, don’t say “sleep well”. You want to get up every minute to let the mosquitoes come. One punch!
Or not long after a person lies in bed, the person downstairs suddenly performs a "Lion's Roar Kung Fu", which shakes the person awake. So, it is not difficult to see that "sudden, irregular, and large-volume changes" sounds such as are one of the culprits that wake people up.
In addition, "noise with a large amount of information" can also easily affect people's sleep. If you don’t believe it, take a look at this:
However, there are some situations that everyone needs to pay attention to, that is, "the slightest sound can easily wake you up" and "no matter how you call it, you are very sleepy", because this...
3.
It may be the body Disease factors are at work!
Generally speaking, people who "can fall asleep no matter how noisy" have better physical conditions than people who "will be woken up by the slightest sound".
If you are easily awakened during sleep, you need to be careful of the following causes of disease:
1
Neurasthenia!
At present, most scholars believe that mental factors are the main cause of neurasthenia. There are many people who are stressed, overly nervous, and overthinking.
People's long-term irregular daily life, excessive mental activity, and high concentration of attention put the body in a state of tension and exhaustion for a long time, which may lead to neurasthenia over time!
One of the common symptoms of people with the disease is sleep disorder, which manifests as difficulty falling asleep, shallow sleep, and easy awakening . If you encounter such a situation, it is recommended to go to the psychiatric department of the hospital for careful examination.
2
cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases !
A 2019 Harvard Medical School study published in the top academic journal " Nature " found that fragmented sleep (that is, interrupted, discontinuous sleep) can easily cause stroke and cardiovascular disease!
The disease is caused by poor sleep, and changes in the condition will aggravate the body's "easy to wake up" condition. People suffering from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, cerebral infarction, etc., have their own diseases that interfere with blood circulation, which in turn affects the normal work of the brain (such as the secretion of sleep spindles).
Therefore, people tend to wake up whenever there is a sound, and waking up may be accompanied by a rapid heartbeat. recommends that everyone pay more attention to subtle changes in the body on weekdays, and it is necessary to have targeted physical examinations on a regular basis!
3
sleep apnea syndrome!
Due to factors such as obesity, age, poor work and rest, genetics and other factors, our respiratory tract may become narrower, making it easier to snore while sleeping, and even cause us to be awakened during sleep.
This is a typical person suffering from "sleep apnea syndrome". These people are not only shallow sleepers, but also will be awakened by the slightest sound. When they wake up, they will also feel dizzy, dry mouth, and the color of their lips will become red and dark. , dyspnea and other hypoxic symptoms .
Especially middle-aged and elderly people (parents’ generation) are the key groups for this disease. If you hear your parents mention similar illnesses, you must pay more attention and take them to the respiratory department of the hospital in time.
People who snore all year round should also pay attention to
People who can fall asleep no matter how noisy they are are usually due to physical exhaustion, so the problem is not a big deal! But there is a situation that needs to remind everyone, be careful narcolepsy (sleep disorder disease) !
People with this disease are still excessively sleepy during the day even if they get enough sleep. They may even fall asleep without warning regardless of the occasion or and cannot be woken up. Situations like this require detailed examination at the neurology department of the hospital to confirm the diagnosis.
If you want to ask how to solve the above situation? Then here are suggestions:
● Improve sleeping habits and balance work and rest. Try to sleep regularly, ensure 6-8 hours of sleep every day, and do appropriate exercise.
● Seek medical attention promptly to find the cause as early as possible, and take medication as directed by your doctor to normalize your sleep cycle.
● If it is caused by psychological problems, consult a psychologist in time.
● Avoid putting pressure on the heart while sleeping, for example, avoid putting your hands on your chest, using a quilt that is too thick to press your chest, sleeping on your stomach, etc.
● Regular physical examinations. If you feel uncomfortable in your body, you can specifically check the corresponding parts to prevent problems before they happen!
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Finally, let’s take a small survey: What kind of sleeper do you think you are? If you think it is a "light sleeper" star, please [like], if you are a "noisy" star, please click [watching], and if you have different opinions, please come to the message area to interact.
