I鈥檓 sitting in my desk chair,听staring at a group听of jellyfish on my phone, and听wearing a neurofeedback听device called 听($499), a bulky white headband fitted with four gold electrodes that runs across my forehead, on top of my head, and behind my ears. Occasionally a jellyfish disappears from my phone screen听and a little happy piano note sounds鈥攎y 鈥渞eward鈥 ping. I鈥檓 confused. I like sea jellies. Why would I want them to disappear? I try staring around my room. I glance at a听poster about soil types鈥ping. A tree outside my window鈥ping. Back to the poster鈥ping. I look at the tree again, but this time there鈥檚 no reward.听
The purpose of this exercise is to make me a better sleeper. While falling asleep is relatively easy for me, the smallest disturbance in my house rouses me again: footsteps, a door closing, the floor听creaking. I do what I can to accommodate my light slumber鈥擨 only听drink coffee听in the morning, and I听use blackout curtains, a white-noise machine, and earplugs鈥攂ut I still can鈥檛 avoid sudden awakenings, which sometimes result in starting my day听at 4 A.M. It鈥檚 led to housemate strife, anxiety, and many, many, long nights.听
All of my efforts to sleep better thus far have been about adjusting to my environment. But what if I could teach myself to听become a deeper sleeper instead? That鈥檚 where the URGOnight comes in.听
The听funky-looking headband made by the company URGOtech is essentially an at-home electroencephalogram (EEG) machine. An EEG tracks the electrical activity in our brains, measuring the frequencies in hertz. The ups and downs of the signal can听show what鈥檚 happening in the brain听and are used to classify the different stages of sleep. Generally, a higher frequency suggests greater alertness.听
The URGOnight focuses on sensorimotor-rhythm (SMR) waves, or low-beta waves, . While wearing the headband, the linked听phone app rewards users with little pings and animations when they produce waves in that range. The idea is that those cues help you understand how to produce more SMR waves when awake, which hypothetically leads to greater production of 鈥攂rief squiggles in the 10-to-15-hertz range that are thought to be听associated with memory processing during sleep鈥攚hile asleep. URGOnight customers听are encouraged to use听the device at least three times a week, and the company says that many people begin to experience .
A 20-minute session in the app is split听into five chunks of training, with one-minute breaks in between. The app offers some suggestions on what to do to produce more SMR brainwaves, including focusing on breathing, clearing the mind, or thinking positive thoughts. But mainly, it leaves it up to users to figure out their own strategy.听
I tried a few animations during听my first sessions. The jellyfish one made me sad, but zooming听through galaxies was more satisfying; the more SMR waves I made, the closer I got to the stars. I tried concentrating听on the app or on other sights around me,听clearing my head, breathing, and stretching (the last is not recommended by the company, as muscle movement also creates electric signals that can disrupt EEG accuracy). My feedback scores for the sessions varied wildly. On a scale of one听to 500, I鈥檇 go from 150 in one session, to 309 the next, and then back to down to 139 after that. (There isn鈥檛 really a good听score, according to the company鈥攜our feedback numbers are听based on how much you鈥檙e able to increase听your SMR waves compared to a baseline measurement at the start of the session.)
URGOtech says it has听the data to prove that, over time, training with the device听will reward users with听more restful sleep. In March, researchers funded by URGOtech published a clinical study in which听they instructed 37 participants with insomnia to use the device four times a week for a total of 40 or 60 sessions. The patients filled out questionnaires on their sleep quality before receiving听an URGOnight, midway through the treatment, at the end, and three to six months after the trial. By the end of the treatment,听self-reported sleep time went up by 30 minutes on average for all users, and up another 12 minutes in the following months. Significant sleep gains were confined to听the 11 individuals听who were able to consistently increase听their SMR waves during sessions, resulting in听a听self-reported hour increase in sleep time, on average.
To the research team, that鈥檚 a success. Martijn Arns, the founder of Research Institute Brainclinics and senior author of the paper (which has not yet been peer-reviewed), said the trial shows that the treatment is 鈥渧ery feasible.鈥 He found听the study鈥檚 results to be a promising indication of the effectiveness of SMR treatments听and noted that no one treatment for sleep works for everyone.听
Others aren鈥檛 convinced. Robert Thibault, a researcher听at the University of Bristol, in the UK, pointed out the lack of a control group and the direct involvement of the company seeking to profit off the product, which can bias results. Philip Gehrman, a clinical psychologist focused on sleep medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, was also not impressed: 鈥淭his is a minuscule improvement [in sleep],鈥 he says.听
It鈥檚 not the only neurofeedback听sleep study听to be met with听misgivings.听Some听researchers who have done听the very work that听URGOtech cites to support its product have doubts about the neurofeedback treatment. Aisha Cortoos, a sleep psychologist who founded a private practice focused on non-neurofeedback sleep interventions, called , previously studied the effectiveness of SMR training for sleep. Although she has seen , she鈥檚听still a bit skeptical about whether neurofeedback can actually train better sleep, mostly because there aren鈥檛听a lot of large studies looking at the practice. Neurofeedback听is a 鈥渄irty tool,鈥 she adds, because so many factors can affect the reading, such as the thickness of your scalp, your age, even blinking. SMR training has also yet to demonstrate a 鈥渃lear link鈥 to increased sleep spindles at night in humans, she says.听鈥淚t鈥檚 still based on hypothetical links.鈥
Very few, if any, sleep studies employing a rigorous design鈥攐ne that is听double-blind and placebo controlled鈥攈ave noted听a significant benefit to neurofeedback therapy, says Thibault. One of the few听that did meet that听standard saw in neurofeedback over a sham treatment.听
With millions of Americans struggling with inadequate sleep and escalating stress, it鈥檚 easy to see why products like URGOnight听command such interest鈥攖hey鈥檙e convenient, and听they have the appearance of fancy medical technology. The promise of a quick fix to calm our minds,听or train them to sleep better,听sells:听the听sleep-aid听market exceeded听$81 billion in 2020, according to the firm . The trouble is that many high-tech sleep and relaxation tools out there fail to provide robust evidence for their efficacy.
That doesn鈥檛 mean people don鈥檛 experience real benefits from these听neurofeedback treatments. Personally, I started recording fewer nighttime awakenings and deeper sleep after around 15 sessions with the headband. But the reason why people like me benefit might have more to do with a placebo effect, or so-called psychosocial influences.听Interacting with doctors, flashy tech, and undergoing听a pricey treatment are all factors that have been shown to increase our expectation of improving psychological symptoms. And that expectation itself on our mental state, Thibault of consumer neurofeedback devices. 鈥淚nsomnia studies tend to have big placebo effects,鈥 says Gehrman. 鈥淧eople with insomnia tend to be anxious and worried about their ability to sleep at night, and that makes it harder to sleep. But if I tell you, 鈥業鈥檓 going to give you this treatment, and it鈥檚 going to help you sleep better,鈥 people tend to be more relaxed, which helps them to sleep better.鈥
There are still gaps in our understanding of how neurofeedback works.听But Arns听says that鈥檚 true of most clinical treatments, and he doesn鈥檛 think that should preclude selling these products because they have little to no adverse risks associated with them. 鈥淚 mean, there might not be physical risks associated with it,鈥 says听Gehrman. 鈥淏ut there are monetary risks.鈥澨
Arns听also pushes back on the traditional view of placebos鈥攖hat either a treatment works as proposed or it鈥檚 wholly ineffective. He says that individuals听can experience benefits for multiple reasons, making neurofeedback鈥檚 effect tricky to disentangle from everything else affecting our brains. In the URGOnight study, patients continued to sleep better three to six months after the trial. That long-lived benefit is telling, says Arns. 鈥淚f you provide a placebo pill for depression, that has a short-lived effect鈥攖he depression will soon catch up with people again,鈥 he says (although some 听calls that into question). 鈥淔rom a clinical perspective, I think the most important thing is that the effects听are lasting.鈥
Yet the gold-standard treatment for insomnia remains cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBT-I. Cortoos, the sleep psychologist,听explains that your brain essentially system. From an evolutionary perspective, sleep is dangerous:听feeling stressed signals that there鈥檚 a threat, and that you must remain awake and vigilant. 鈥淭his is what鈥檚 going wrong with insomnia patients,鈥 says Cortoos. The wake side of the seesaw in insomniacs is heavily weighed down.听
CBT-I rebalances that seesaw. It uses tools like deliberate sleep restriction to weigh down the sleep side while teaching patients how to build constructive thoughts around sleep and use calming exercises to lighten the stress side. This program, which typically runs听six to eight weeks and costs听anywhere from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars, has been found听effective听in about 80 percent of patients, according to Cortoos. Further, many insurance plans cover it, says Gehrman. (Though if you have the cheapest-possible, high-deductible plan like me鈥攐r no coverage鈥攑aying for it may not be so easy.)听
As I learned more about the limited听evidence behind听neurofeedback tools like URGOnight, I grew increasingly averse to听setting aside my work five times a week to stretch the electrodes听over my head, sit down, and stare at the app. Still, I continued to try听breathing techniques and clearing my mind. I watched as听bubbles burst and icebergs swished around. And I did start to sleep better, even sometimes snoozing through the entire night.听
I鈥檓 not sure how often I鈥檒l don the URGOnight band in the future. I鈥檓 reluctant to commit my time to a questionable technology. But I say that now, while听I鈥檓 enjoying a phase of relatively sound sleep. Even though the benefits I experienced could have been pure听placebo, using this device听taught听me that sleep is malleable鈥攖hat there鈥檚 hope for my weary, anxious, and pandemic-addled brain. Perhaps I鈥檓 sleeping better just knowing that.