Couples spending the night in the same bed sleep better, according to a recent study. Explanations.
Sleeping together is better
Sleep research when sharing a bed with your partner is both scarce and contradictory. A recent study by le Dr Henning Johannes Drew’s Center for Integrative Psychiatry (ZIP) and published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, affirm that to have a better sleep, you have to sleep in the same bed as the person who lives with us.
To carry out their work, the researchers called on 12 young healthy heterosexual couples who spent four nights in the sleep laboratory. They measured the sleep parameters both in the presence and in the absence of the partner using a double simultaneous polysomnography, an examination which records several physiological variables (brain waves to movement, breathing, muscle tension, movement, heart activity). In order to complete this examination, the participants filled out questionnaires allowing the characteristics of relationships to be measured (duration of the relationship, degree of passionate love, etc.).
Better REM sleep
According to the results of this work, REM sleep – also called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) – is both more important and less disturbed in couples who sleep together than in those who do not sleep in the same bed. Scientists have also found that couples synchronize their sleep patterns when they sleep together. This synchronization, which is not linked to the fact that the partners disturb each other during the night, is positively associated with the depth of the relationship.
This study shows how sleeping together improves and stabilizes REM sleep, a phase that lasts 15 to 20 minutes when brain activity is most intense. It has the characteristic of improving our social interactions and reducing emotional stress. A good reason for not sleeping apart; even if your partner snores or has cold feet!
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