The Effectiveness of Suggestion-Based Methods to Improve Sleep Is Increased by Combining Them with Sound Stimuli Based on Binaural Beat

Objective. To test the hypothesis that there are differences between three mean values of sleep latency (SL) when falling asleep: when accompanied by audio stimuli based on binaural beats (BB), after listening to suggestive instructions on how to relax the body, and accompanied by BB-based audio stimuli after listening to suggestive instructions for relaxing the body (i.e., 1 and 2 combined). Materials and methods. A special app was written for the Android operating system for the purpose of conducting this study and was installed on subjects’ individual smartphones. The app included a screen touch test as a control for falling asleep. Data were analyzed from 63 subjects who were presented with the three types of sound stimuli noted above in a counterbalanced design. Results. Statistical analysis confirmed the hypothesis noted above that the SL depended on the type of sound stimulus (p < 0.05). Pairwise comparison of SL showed significant differences between stimuli (3) (1149 ± 113 sec) and (1) (1469 ± 89 sec) (p < 0.01). The SL for stimulus (2) had an intermediate value of 1269 ± 112 sec (differing from stimulus (1) at the level of a trend). Conclusion. The use of a sound background consisting of BB enhances the effect of suggestive instructions in improving sleep. However, the decisive role belongs to suggestion as a psychotherapeutic technique. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.