Should you hear or listen?
When it comes to sleep, there are differences between hearing and listening. Hearing is the ability to perceive sound, while listening is giving one’s attention to a sound. When you are trying to fall asleep and there is a sound that you are focusing on, which is preventing you from falling asleep, you are actively listening to this sound.
Using SleepHub® doesn’t require us to actively listen to the Sleep sounds but for our brain to receive the soundwaves via the auditory pathways. In this way our brains are guided through healthy sleep cycles.
During the early stages in the development of SleepHub® the differences between hearing and listening were an important factor, its creator, Colin Aston-James, recalls.
“We started out using sounds from singing bowls and pan pipes which sounded lovely, but people were actually listening to those sounds. So we started using pure tones – it has to be as boring as possible so people don’t actually listen to it. The sound needs to disappear into the background for it to be effective.”
Our brains follow rhythms and patterns in sound
Imagine you are playing in a marching band. You march in time with the music. The beat of the music changes but you are asked to continue marching in time to the previous beat. It’s almost impossible to do.
It’s been scientifically proven that our brains latch on to rhythms and sound patterns in sound. We like to follow along and anticipate what comes next. It’s quite common for us to be able to recall nursery rhymes that we learnt in childhood, even though we may not have recited them for many years. This is the incredible way our brain remembers patterns and rhythms.
Colin Aston-James comments, “By harnessing the brain’s natural response to certain sound frequencies, SleepHub® guides the brain through good quality sleep cycles in the correct order, thus helping with falling asleep, staying asleep and waking feeling refreshed”
He adds, “We’re only just beginning to uncover some of the health applications and benefits possible with this sound technology.”
Interested in Learning More?
We hope highlighting the differences between hearing and listening has helped you understand the importance sleep devices can play in creating a healthy sleep environment. For more information on devices to help you sleep, get in touch with us online today.
