> During the intervention week, participants wore an electroencephalogram (EEG)-enabled headband that delivered acoustic pulses timed to arrive anti-phase with alpha for 30 min (Stimulation). During the Sham week, the headband silently recorded EEG.
Now, I might just be misreading this, but doesn't this sound like an awful way to blind the trial?
During the experimental week, participants evidently had the headband beep (okay, blast pink noise) at them for half an hour. For the sham week, it didn't. It seems like participants would be able to tell whether their headband is active or whether they're in the placebo week.
It seems to me that the better control would have been to still give participants pink noise pulses at approximately the same frequency, but without regard for the measured alpha wave cycles.
The point of the experiment isn't the sound itself, however, it's carefully timing the sounds to the allegedly correct part of the alpha brainwave cycle. That's why the participants were wearing EEG headbands for the study.
By having a sham treatment with random sound timing, you capture the baseline effect of the sound in both the experiment and control, leaving the timing as the experimental variable.
I wonder if Functional Near-infrared cerebral spectroscopy[1] could be used instead of an EEG to make this work, it might be a lot easier, and cheaper... you could sew it all into a hat. Apparently the main thing you need is a Pulse Oxygen Sensor.[2]
If workable, amazingly cool. I can turn overall 10:00pm and it's stacked zz until 5am. My partner can be hanging on to past midnight and it's pissing her off these last decades. Melatonin gives her horrid florid dreams and restless legs and nobody wants to get hooked to temazepam.
It’s a hormone. Brains are all differently equipped with those so you shouldn’t expect regularity or predictability unless you have a consistent dosage schedule
Melatonin helps me sleep but it is also not restful or good sleep. She may want to try GABA supplements with it, the two together helped me to sleep and have restful sleep
I've had periodic exploding head syndrome when I lie on my neck wrong. Random phantom noises like a single slap on the wall, gunshots, explosions, breaking noises, and crashes that aren't there but seem like they could be.
Now, I might just be misreading this, but doesn't this sound like an awful way to blind the trial?
During the experimental week, participants evidently had the headband beep (okay, blast pink noise) at them for half an hour. For the sham week, it didn't. It seems like participants would be able to tell whether their headband is active or whether they're in the placebo week.
It seems to me that the better control would have been to still give participants pink noise pulses at approximately the same frequency, but without regard for the measured alpha wave cycles.
By having a sham treatment with random sound timing, you capture the baseline effect of the sound in both the experiment and control, leaving the timing as the experimental variable.
[1] https://openfnirs.org/
[2] https://www.analog.com/en/products/max86141.html