Placebo Sleep Can Trick You Into Feeling Rested

One in three adults, according to the CDC, don't get enough sleep. Finding a way to obtain more sleep sounds like a good idea just for that reason. What if you could simply fool your brain into believing you slept when you actually didn't? It appears that's a viable alternative, and it functions. Like other placebos, placebo sleep works when your mind creates the illusion that something has happened even when it hasn't. You can convince yourself that you are rested even when you are not with the correct stimulus.

The significance of REM sleep was discussed to two groups of participants before a sleep study was conducted. They were informed that 20% to 25% of total sleep should be REM sleep. One group's sleep study revealed that they spent 28.7% of the night in REM sleep. One group was informed that their REM content was only 16.2%. Those stats weren't accurate.

Cognitive tests performed better for those who were told they slept better after the fact. When compared to control groups, those who were informed they slept worse performed worse. It made absolutely no difference how any of them truly felt.