Abstract Introduction Efficient and sufficient sleep is critical to optimal well-being and longevity. A decrease in deep sleep (SWS/N3) resulting from aging, sleep disorders, or other morbidities is associated with a host of impairments in memory, clearance of the brain’s waste, and physical/mental restoration. Auditory stimulation is an emerging option seeking to increase or at least maintain production of slow oscillations recognized to their restore functions. A plethora of consumer devices are on the market claiming to improve sleep. Few of the effective options are practical for at-home use and most commercial devices have not been rigorously tested in RCT cross-over designs. The current study evaluated the Sonopeace™ solution, a novel vibroacoustic sleep intervention, on the sleep of adults with sleep difficulties Methods Participants (N = 45) were randomly assigned to the Sonopeace and a placebo sound condition in a 3 × 2 × 2 crossover design. Protocol A: Baseline:Placebo: Sonopeace. Protocol B: Baseline:Sonopeace:Placebo. Daily sleep data came from questionnaires and the SleepScore Max device. Validated sleep questionnaires were given at the end of each study period. Initial analyses used ANOVA and paired t-tests focused on changes across the study periods. Results Protocol A showed no significant changes in objective sleep from Baseline to Placebo. There were improvements in %Light, %REM, and WASO from Placebo to Sonopeace (P’s .01). Similar to the objective data, improvements in daytime sleepiness, symptoms of insomnia, and general sleep disturbance were noted only after the Sonopeace. For Protocol B, there were significant improvements in %Deep and WASO from baseline to Sonopeace, with additional improvements observed in %SE and %REM in Sonopeace to Placebo. The subjective measures, except daytime sleepiness, were significantly improved after Sonopeace, and all had sustained improvement during the placebo condition. Conclusion Preliminary analyses indicate that listening to Sonopeace is associated with measurable improvements in both objective and subjective indicators of sleep quality. While improvements in objective sleep were sustained to a lesser degree, the persistence of perceived sleep benefits suggests a meaningful psychological component. Taken together, these findings point to Sonopeace as a promising, commercially available solution for improved sleep health. Support (if any) The Mereon Legacy Group CIC
Okun et al. (Fri,) studied this question.