New Smartphone App To Help You Sleep

"Brain areas involved in controlling sleep detect that sense-making has been suspended. This basically gives them an implicit license to continue the transition to sleep," he said.

Executive functions - brain functions like planning, worrying and problem solving that are vital for helping us make sense of the world during waking hours - can delay sleep when they don't switch off at bed time.

By prompting users to interpret and visualise words, mySleepButton can help deactivate these executive functions.

"While you're thinking about random objects or scenes, you can't think about your mortgage, an important meeting or an impending divorce," said Beaudoin.

"That's because, to a certain extent, we all have one track minds. It's very hard to think about multiple distinct things at the same time," Beaudoin said.

The app could also help increase cognitive productivity as well.

"Quality of work decreases when people are sleep-deprived and getting adequate sleep is very important for cognitive performance," he said.
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