The Sleep Foundation estimates that as many as 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders, which can increase your risk of heart disease, obesity, dementia and more.
A technique called cognitive shuffling is being suggested as a way to help people with sleep struggles nod off. It was developed by cognitive scientist from Canada鈥檚 Simon Fraser University, who also founded the sleep tech company CogSci Apps.
4 questions with Luc Beaudoin
What is cognitive shuffling and how can we do it ourselves?
鈥淵ou choose a random word like the word 鈥榩iano,鈥� and then you would actually spell it out in your head. And for each letter you try to imagine something that starts with that letter. So, with the word 鈥榩iano,鈥� it starts with a 鈥楶.鈥�
鈥淪o, start by imagining a piano. You might imagine a peach, a park. You linger for 5 to 10 seconds on each one, then moving on to another one, maybe, you know, somebody called 鈥楶aul.鈥�
鈥淎nd then when you鈥檙e bored or can鈥檛 think of anything else that starts with the first letter, you move on to the second letter. In this case, 鈥業.鈥� And you might think of 鈥業ndia.鈥� It鈥檚 important to try to imagine it. 鈥業glu鈥� or 鈥榠sland.鈥� So, you imagine one thing after another and then eventually, if this works, you doze off and you might not even make it to the third letter.鈥�
What is the science behind why this works?
鈥淏asically, I suppose that the brain鈥檚 sleep onset control system considers two different factors. One is, is the brain busy thinking about something important, so worrying or problem solving, that鈥檚 the signal to stay awake? Or is it in a sleep onset like state, a dreamlike state where you鈥檙e having mental imagery and that鈥檚 a signal that it鈥檚 appropriate to progress more deeply towards sleep. So, there鈥檚 two processes going on there.鈥�
What is the success rate for this technique? Have you tested it in large groups of people? And what did you find?
鈥淲e鈥檝e run a couple of studies. One of the studies compared it with a technique which is called constructive worrying. We measured people at the beginning. They were students, 140- or 50-odd students at the beginning of the semester and then around midterms, when they should be having difficulty falling asleep. And we found that this technique actually matched an established technique called constructive worrying, which is basically involves journaling right after dinner, so that one鈥檚 not busy thinking about one鈥檚 problems at bedtime. That was one study.
鈥淭here was another study with comparing it with another technique that showed good results, but it was a smaller study. So, really, in terms of empirical investigation, we鈥檙e at the beginning and one of the things that I hope would happen with this publicity is to encourage other sleep labs in the world to kind of look at this and compare it with other established 鈥� and there鈥檚 not that many 鈥� cognitive bedtime techniques.
鈥淭his was developed partly when I compared this idea of mine with what I call monotonous imagery training. It鈥檚 called in literature imagery training, but it has you think about an object like a candle, but you鈥檙e supposed to think about it in detail for 2 minutes. And I said to myself, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 not going to be very counter-insomnolent. It鈥檚 not going to counter the thinking that keeps you awake because if you鈥檙e having troubles with your marriage, your kids, your mortgage, focusing on a candle for 2 minutes is going to be really hard.鈥�
鈥淪o, I thought a technique that was more like natural sleep onset that involves juggling random-like images would be more engaging. And frankly, I think one of the reasons this took off is that it鈥檚 fun. When else do you get to imagine? You know, like outside of childhood, childhood is imagery rich. And then and then we鈥檙e very driven by all the information that鈥檚 on social media, TV, etc. so we鈥檙e not internally generating images. This is a form of play. I view it as both a new kind of meditation and a form of play.鈥�
What are some other techniques that you鈥檝e seen out there that can help that people could try, or what鈥檚 a way to enhance and make the cognitive shuffling more effective for them?
鈥淚 already alluded to one technique, which is called constructive worrying, so you journal and you can actually Google to find templates for constructive worrying. But essentially what you do is after dinner, you take your concerns. Typically, insomnia is associated with a worry or concern, and you devise some solutions or thoughts about it. You journal. Journaling is good in many respects in psychology. So, this is a technique that has been proven to be effective for many people who have difficulty falling asleep.
鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a lot of things you can do. One of the first things I recommend for people is to cut out caffeine altogether. Caffeine stays in your system longer than you think, and caffeine is one of those things that actually keeps the body awake.
鈥淎nother thing you can do that鈥檚 recommended is to get sunlight exposure early in the day because sleep is controlled by your internal clock. So, you got two types of clocks. Summer synchronized with the sun. It鈥檚 called circadian. It鈥檚 how long you鈥檝e been awake. So, your circadian system is important in controlling sleep and getting that early exposure to sunlight is useful.
鈥淏ut I would recommend Googling sleep hygiene, and you鈥檒l find from a reputable site you鈥檒l get some good information there. But if you鈥檝e got a persistent problem with sleep, it鈥檚 good to see a health professional because that might actually be indicating you鈥檝e got some other problem. So, you don鈥檛 want to necessarily mask that problem if it鈥檚 a serious problem that endures for many weeks.鈥�
This interview was edited for clarity.
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