Rock-a-bye-adult
It's not just babies who like to be rocked to sleep.
A new study led by Laurence Bayer at the University of Geneva involved 12 men taking two 45-minute afternoon naps, one on a static bed and another on a bed that rocked gently. The rocking bed was preferred and the men fell asleep on it more quickly, transitioning to N2 (second stage) sleep sooner and staying in that stage for longer (Current Biology: tinyurl.com/66u44xv).
Bayer's team said the soporific effects of rocking are likely to arise from vestibular sensations enhancing synchronous activity in thalamo-cortical networks.
