Why you shouldn’t sleep with the radio or television in the background

Many people sleep with radio or television in the background convinced that it helps them fall asleep. However, what seems like a harmless habit can have effects on the quality of your rest. To understand what happens to the brain when we sleep accompanied by sound, we have spoken with Alfredo Rodríguez Muñozprofessor of Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid.

As he explains, the problem is usually subtle: “It can cause micro awakenings that interrupt the deepest phases of sleep and REM sleep.” The person may believe that they have slept well, but in reality the rest has been less restful.

The psychologist remembers that “the important thing is not only if you fall asleep quickly, but how do you sleep“. And to explain it he uses an analogy: “There are people who say that drinking alcohol helps them because it makes them sleepy, but what you achieve is that the dream is more fragmented and of poorer quality“. Something similar can happen with the night sound.

The effects of a fragmented dream They don’t just wake up feeling tired. Chronic interrupted sleep is associated, according to scientific evidence, with “worse memory, lower ability to concentrate and a more irritable mood“.

In the long term, adds Rodríguez Muñoz, poor quality rest “can be associated with a increased cardiovascular risk“. It is not the radio or television itself that causes the problem, but the type of sleep they favor, lighter and with more interruptions.

Another effect of this habit has to do with conditioning. “Many people get used to sleeping like this and end up using the TV as a a crutch for sleep“he explains. The result is that the person feels that is not able to fall asleep without that stimulus. “There you lose some autonomy when it comes to achieving your dream,” he concludes.

Not all sounds affect the same

The brain does not completely “turn off” when sleeping, especially in the early stages. “In the initial phase of sleep we are still between wakefulness and sleep, and the brain continues to process external stimuli, especially sounds“explains the professor.

There may be important differences here because we are still paying attention to meaningful stimuli. “The spoken contentsuch as news, series or dialogues, are more disruptive because language activates brain networks associated with attention and interpretation,” he points out. On the other hand, soft music or the white noiseif they do not have sudden changes in volume, they tend to interfere less.

And in older people?

With age, sleep worsens naturally. “Older people tend to sleep less and in a more fragmented and superficial way,” explains the psychologist. Precisely because of that lighter sleep, “they are more vulnerable to external stimulilike noises or sounds”.

However, nor is it something problematicbut rather a biological issue that always occurs. There are even evolutionary hypotheses that suggest that this trait could have ancient roots: “When we slept in groups, for example in prehistoric times, Older people were the ones who used to be the wake of others’ sleep.“.

For this reason, he points out, “there are many people who insist on wanting to sleep like they did when they were young and that It’s almost biologically impossible.“. In search of formulas to fall asleep, many turn to radio or television. It is clear that it is not a beneficial option, but Rodríguez Muñoz sends a reassuring message: “It is not a dramatic question, it falls within the anecdotal“.