Cooling the Brain During Sleep May Be a Natural and Effective Treatment for Insomnia

People with primary insomnia may be able to find relief by wearing a cap that cools the brain during sleep. According to the authors, a reduction in metabolism in the brain's frontal cortex occurs while falling asleep and is associated with restorative sleep., insomnia is associated with increased metabolism in this same brain region. One way to reduce cerebral metabolic activity is to use frontal cerebral thermal transfer to cool the brain, a process known as "cerebral hypothermia."

Results show that there were linear effects of all-night thermal transfer intensities on sleep latency and sleep efficiency. The time that it took subjects with primary insomnia to fall asleep (13 minutes) and the percentage of time in bed that they slept (89 percent) during treatment at the maximal cooling intensity were similar to healthy controls (16 minutes and 89 percent).

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110613093502.htm