Should you wear a sleep mask even if you DON”T have problems falling asleep? Or is it a waste of time and comfort?
Lots of studies have shown the benefit for ICU patients, whiich makes sense. But now researchers tested them on young people sleeping in their own homes, measuring both the direct effect of masks on sleep quality, and the impact on memory and alertness the next day.
Welcome back to 30 Studies to Change Your Life: Sleep Week. Last time we covered how any light in the room can mess with your sleep and activate your sympathetic nervous system. But sometimes your room can be tough to fully control. Maybe your partner has a different sleep schedule, or is afraid of the dark. A sleep mask is like turning off the lights in your brain's bedroom
This study had people go through periods wearing either a sleep mask, no mask, or mask with eye holes cut out to duplicate the feel on the face but still let in light. They measured sleep quality with an at-home EEG, and gave morning questionnaires and cognitive tests.
Turns out, wearing the real sleep mask didn’t impact their total time asleep, and had no effect on their self-reported alertness. Buuut that’s like asking your drunk friend Steve if HE thinks he’s ok to drive.
Eeeyyyyeeeeeahh jggust let me finish my BORG
Sure enough, the objective measures told a different story.
Wearing the sleep mask lead to better performance on memory and attention tests the next day, and the memory performance was positively correlated with the amount of Deep Sleep, which could indicate increased slow brain wave activity during that time.
Final verdict: if your room is not pitch black, get a nice sleep mask, even if you don’t THINK you need it. I’ve tested a ton of them so let me know if you want recommendations.