Q & A Our readers are invited to email us with their questions! Q: How can I sleep better when traveling? (Jose C) A: Jose, If you’ve ever tossed and turned in a hotel room, you may have experience with “night-watch brain.” Some research found that, similar to many animals, humans rest one half of the brain less than the other when we’re in an unfamiliar setting. This adaptation would have been advantageous for our ancestors to protect them from predators, but not as important for today’s traveler. You can minimize it by staying at the same hotel for as long as you remain in a city and by booking similar rooms from the same chain. ------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Should I be falling asleep to white noise? (Linda S) A: Linda, “White noise” has been proven to mask environmental sounds that disturb slumber. Sleep scientists are now interested in “pink noise,” which resembles the white variety except that the lower frequencies are louder than the higher ones. There’s evidence that it can enhance slow-wave sleep. In a 2017 study, seniors did better at a recall test after spending a night with pink noise synced up to their slow-wave brain activity. If you’d like to conduct your own experiment, you can downl |