Music Interventions for Sleep Quality Improvement

Music interventions constitute an accessible non-pharmacological strategy to enhance sleep quality across diverse populations. Modalities range from passive listening to curated playlists, bespoke brain-wave entrained compositions and app-based audio tools. Mechanisms include reduction of presleep arousal, modulation of autonomic balance, entrainment of neural oscillations conducive to deep sleep, and the establishment of conditioned bedtime routines. Empirical evidence demonstrates improvements in subjective sleep quality, reductions in sleep onset latency and enhancements in slow-wave sleep. Delivery platforms span streaming services, wearable sound devices and digital therapeutics. Global adoption reflects cultural preferences and individual variation in musical selection. Practical applications extend to healthy adults, shift workers, clinical populations with insomnia or depression and neurodegenerative disorders. Ongoing research seeks to optimise dosage, personalise acoustic parameters and elucidate underlying neural mechanisms via polysomnographic and neuroimaging methods.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Two foundational investigations have elucidated objective changes in sleep architecture following presleep music. In a within-subjects nap study, listening to relaxing music prior to a 90-minute nap reduced time in light sleep (stage N1), enhanced slow-wave sleep and elevated the ratio of slow to fast EEG frequencies, effects that varied with individual suggestibility. A randomised crossover trial in young adults compared a 30-minute music listening session with a slow breathing exercise, revealing that music decreased light stage N2 sleep, increased frontal beta1 power spectral density and showed trends toward deeper sleep stages alongside improved heart rate variability. Together, these results underscore the capacity of presleep music to modify neural and autonomic markers of sleep quality.

Music Interventions for Sleep Quality Improvement publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in music interventions for sleep quality improvement across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Slow-wave sleep (SWS): The deepest stage of non-rapid eye movement sleep, characterised by high-amplitude, low-frequency brain waves.

Polysomnography: A comprehensive overnight recording of physiological signals—such as EEG, muscle activity and heart rate—used to assess sleep architecture.

Heart rate variability (HRV): The variation in time intervals between consecutive heartbeats, reflecting autonomic nervous system regulation.

Power spectral density (PSD): A quantitative analysis of the distribution of power across frequency bands in EEG recordings, used to infer neural synchronisation during sleep.

References

1. Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of app-based audio tools to improve sleep health in working adults experiencing poor sleep: a multi-arm randomized pilot trial. Sleep (2023).
2. Effects of Relaxing Music on Healthy Sleep. Scientific Reports (2019).
3. The Effects of Presleep Slow Breathing and Music Listening on Polysomnographic Sleep Measures – a pilot trial. Scientific Reports (2020).
4. The audio features of sleep music: Universal and subgroup characteristics. PLOS ONE (2023).
5. SWS Brain-Wave Music May Improve the Quality of Sleep: An EEG Study. Frontiers in Neuroscience (2020).
6. The Effect of Noise-Masking Earbuds (SleepBuds) on Reported Sleep Quality and Tension in Health Care Shift Workers: Prospective Single-Subject Design Study. JMIR Formative Research (2022).
7. Perspectives of Circadian-Based Music Therapy for the Pathogenesis and Symptomatic Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience (2022).
8. Music to improve sleep quality in adults with depression-related insomnia (MUSTAFI): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials (2020).
9. An fMRI Study of the Effects of Vibroacoustic Stimulation on Functional Connectivity in Patients with Insomnia. Sleep Disorders (2020).
10. Music on Prescription to Aid Sleep Quality: A Literature Review. Frontiers in Psychology (2020).