“Pink noise” — sound stimulation during sleep — improved deep sleep for some sleep disorder patients, including some at risk of dementia.

Gentle sound stimulation played during specific times during deep sleep enhanced deep or slow-wave sleep for people with mild cognitive impairment, who are at risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

The individuals whose brains responded the most robustly to the sound stimulation showed an improved memory response the following day.

“Our findings suggest slow-wave or deep sleep is a viable and potentially important therapeutic target in people with mild cognitive impairment,” said Dr. Roneil Malkani, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine sleep medicine physician. “The results deepen our understanding of the importance of sleep in memory, even when there is memory loss.”

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