Study on Gamma sensory flicker for Insomnia

Abstract

Objectives

Insomnia has been the subject of much systematic research because it is a risk factor for a variety of diseases. There is some evidence that gamma sensory stimulation therapy has also been demonstrated to improve sleep quality for people with Alzheimer’s disease. However, it is unclear whether this method is effective for treating insomnia. The principal objective of this project was to investigate the efficacy and safety of gamma sensory flicker in improving the sleep quality of insomnia patients.

Methods

Thirty-seven participants with insomnia were recruited for this prospective observational study. For a duration of 8 weeks, participants were exposed to flicker stimulation through a light and sound device.

Results

During the main phase of the study, adherence rates averaged 92.21%. Additionally, no severe adverse events were reported for flicker treatment. Analysis of sleep diaries indicated that 40 Hz flickers can enhance sleep quality by reducing sleep onset latencies, and arousals, and increasing total sleep duration.

Conclusions

Gamma sensory flicker improves sleep quality in people suffering from insomnia.

Keywords:

• insomnia
• gamma sensory flicker
• sleep quality
• adherence
• feasibility trial

Ethics statement

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University (ethical approval number: K-K132). The study was conducted in accordance with The Code of Ethics of The World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki). Informed written consent was acquired from the participants prior to the experiment, and information regarding the identity of the participants including name and date of birth, was not saved in the dataset or used in any of the analyses. Participants freely chose to participate in the data collection procedure and were free to withdraw at any stage of data collection.

We have registered protocol in ClinicalTrials.gov, the title is “Study on Gamma Sensory Flicker for Insomnia”, and the ClinicalTrials.gov ID is NCT06322524 (https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Disclosure statement of generative AI in scientific writing

There is no use of generative AI in scientific writing.

Data access statement

Research data supporting this publication available is in the supplementary.

Table 1. Clinical characteristics of the study participants.

Additional information

Funding

Specific Grant Numbers: 82371511. General project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Yong Xu. Conception and design. Specific Grant Numbers: 202206. Taiyuan Science and Technology Plan Project (Key Project). Yong Xu. Conception and design. Specific Grant Numbers: Z2023002. Taiyuan Municipal Health Commission’s “Six One Batch” Special Action (Key Project). Yong Xu. Conception and design. Specific Grant Numbers: 81971601, National Natural Science Foundation of China, https://www.nsfc.gov.cn. Yong Xu. Conception and design. Specific Grant Numbers: 201905D121004, Shanxi Provincial Platform Base Special Project, Shanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence Assisted Treatment for Mental Disorders. https://kjt.shanxi.gov.cn. Yong Xu. Conception and design. Specific Grant Numbers: 2021RC02, “Four Batches” Medical Science and Technology Innovation Talent Program of Shanxi Provincial Health Care Commission. Medical science and technology excellence experts and the 136 Medical Rejuvenation Project of Shanxi Province, China. Yong Xu. Administrative, technical, or material support. Specific Grant Numbers: 202103021224395, Basic Research Plan of Shanxi Province. https://kjt.shanxi.gov.cn. Xinrong Li. Specific Grant Numbers: 2022033, Basic Research Project of Shanxi Provincial Health Commission, Shanxi Provincial Health Commission, Xinrong Li.