Magnetic signals could cure chronic insomnia

Make no mistake, there's a plethora of devices out there aimed squarely at rudely disrupting your nap, but a technique that utilizes a gaudy head wrap and magnetic pulses could make the process of conking out a whole lot easier. Apparently, scientists can use relatively standard medical equipment in order to "stimulate the brain with harmless magnetic pulses," which essentially penetrate the nerves that control a type of deep sleep called "slow-wave activity." By forcing the brain to conjure these waves, it helps trigger deep sleep in even the "most chronic insomniac," and researchers are hoping that these methods could be used to create a machine that lets weary individuals get one fabulous power nap. Until then, however, may we suggest wading through every last Intel roadmap presentation you can find without ever losing focus, as this little trick seems to work quite well in corporate settings.

[Via Spluch]

[denis the menace @ May 3rd 2007 4:32AM]

But what if there's no one around to wake you up after your having spent the night snoring away? I mean, that thing scares the daylights outta me, because what if it's stuck and puts you to sleep throughout the day and the following night while you live alone and only your pets are jumping about and demanding that their due food be poured in the bowl? Ugh...

[supermeerkat @ May 3rd 2007 5:42AM]

And then the hungry pets in search of food start to eat you alive, and you can't wake up! Oh dear, I've scared myself.

[denis the menace @ May 3rd 2007 5:46AM]

Okay, this one, your comment, is beyond any comments; let us not paint a pretty damn scary picture lest we should pee in bed tonight, too scurrd to fall asleep

[VJH @ May 3rd 2007 6:20AM]

don't worry Dennis...eventually your pooch will try waking you, but well after any cat in the house would take a little nibble...hahaha.

I'm not really buying the basic premise though, which makes me think some meaning got garbled in the reporting stage. After all, if humans are this sensitive to weak magnetic and RF fields, then there may be some truth to the people who claim sensitivity to high voltage lines, WiFi and cell phones...so far that's not clearly demonstrated. I would suspect that this thing is actually generating a small electrical field that is stimulating the brain. Maybe some one of the resident geniuses can offer a better explanation, because I just can't buy what's been written and I won't have access to PNAS to read the original citation until Monday...

[Karim @ May 3rd 2007 11:17AM]

Most of the papers I've seen on TMS mention fields of 2-3 Tesla, which is higher than most MRI machines (~1.5 Tesla).

Accidents involving MRI machines have had office furniture FLYING across rooms:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/19/health/19magnet.html?ex=1282104000&en=d39f1b92e0056844&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

While I don't know the field strength of the equipment used by this researcher, in general I would not characterize the fields being used as "weak" :-)

[n8diggity @ May 3rd 2007 10:39AM]

I think all you need to do is add crystals and this would make a good substitute for the Time Machine from Napoleon Dynomite...

[mapin @ May 3rd 2007 12:08PM]

yep, not weak, just brief. the tms pulse only lasts a few milliseconds at most, but it is quite strong (2-3 Tesla). As a brain researcher, I've been tms-ed before, it's a lot of fun watching your hand twitch when they stimulate your motor cortex.

[kingofwale @ May 3rd 2007 11:10AM]

am I the only one noticing the similarity between this and those in Minority Report??

freaky.

[Peter Good @ May 6th 2007 10:07PM]

You don't need to wait for such a "machine" to exist.

Brainwave entrainment audio sessions (like the ones used at http://www.sleeptracks.com) can stimulate the production of brainwaves in the "sensory motor rhythm" range and get you the desired effect.

It does NOT (and should not) induce deep delta sleep for the whole night, which would be ridiculous. But it helps those who exhibit very little brain activity in the SMR range -- and insomniacs are among them.

[Liz @ Feb 21st 2008 10:12PM]

Are there any references for this as it seems a bit weird. In any case we already know that your brain waves can be influenced by sound and brainwave entrainment makes use of this knowledge. You can buy audios that will play these sounds to you and change your brain state to that produced during sleep. (eg http://www.sleep-sounds.com/)Many people have found that this works like magic for them as long as their lifestyle factors do not prevent sleep eg caffeine, nicotine etc.

[haris2toms @ May 25th 2007 3:15AM]

Engadget seems a useful gadget for insomniacs. But you do not mention a number of paarticulars, i.e. is it availabale on the market now? How much does it cost. It it exists, who is the manufacturer and where can one buy it?
Are there any sleep clinics utilizing it? And many other relevant comments that will be useful to the user.

[Jean @ Jul 28th 2007 9:41PM]

My insomnia is caused by a severe traumatic period, over 7 weeks, watching my husband being killed (legally, of course). Nothing really works.

Jean