To get a solid night’s sleep, many turn to medications, herbs and even alcohol — but what if you could trick your brain into falling asleep? A new study says this is possible.

An old method of treatment for epilepsy and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder shows promise as a treatment for insomnia. In instrumental sensorimotor rhythm conditioning (ISC), patients shape their brain activity by watching a feedback screen and adjusting their behavior accordingly. To encourage sleep, participants in the study used physiological relaxation and positive thinking to mold their brainwaves into a certain shape.

Study participants were able to fall asleep faster and perform better mentally after two weeks of the treatment. Findings support the theory that increasing relaxation and decreasing muscle tension leads to less movement during sleep and therefore a boost sleep quality and learning ability.

Researchers say the next step is to look at the effects of ISC on different mental tasks and examine its potential as a long-term treatment for insomnia.

More than one third of American adults experience occasional insomnia and more than one in ten suffer from chronic insomnia, according to the American Insomnia Association.

SOURCE: Sleep, 2008;31: 1401-1408

A list of related entries:

Scientists open to the idea of an after life

Binaural Beats for sleep

Nap for boosting brain learning power , really ?

Brain Wave Toys Handbook

Brainwaves entrainment and Binaural Beats

Scientists finally find out sleep can be used to solve problems

Fall Asleep, Stay Asleep

Deep trance state