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Från sömn till musik, och från musik till sömn

Röjås, Elin LU and Cheander, Tove LU (2026) EEML05 20261
Division for Biomedical Engineering
Abstract
Sleep difficulties are a prevalent health issue in Sweden, and affects nearly half of the adult population. A variety of sound-based aids are commonly used, including white and pink noise, although scientific evidence for their effectiveness is limited. This project, conducted at Lund University, explores the sonification of electroencephalography (EEG) signals into music to facilitate the process of falling asleep. EEG data was collected from the first sleep cycle of two subjects using ambulatory EEG. Using Matlab, the relative power of three frequency bands, α, θ and δ was extracted and mapped to musical parameters within the F-Lydian scale. The δ activity controlled a foundation drone, θ activity a fifth interval in relation to the... (More)
Sleep difficulties are a prevalent health issue in Sweden, and affects nearly half of the adult population. A variety of sound-based aids are commonly used, including white and pink noise, although scientific evidence for their effectiveness is limited. This project, conducted at Lund University, explores the sonification of electroencephalography (EEG) signals into music to facilitate the process of falling asleep. EEG data was collected from the first sleep cycle of two subjects using ambulatory EEG. Using Matlab, the relative power of three frequency bands, α, θ and δ was extracted and mapped to musical parameters within the F-Lydian scale. The δ activity controlled a foundation drone, θ activity a fifth interval in relation to the drone and the α activity controlled a stochastic melody based on probability. The synthesized music was evaluated by a test group of 32 participants in the ages 21-29 through a subjective survey. Results showed that 37.9% experienced falling asleep being easier than usual and a majority of the participants reported that the music felt calming (59.4%) and pleasant (53.1%). The findings within the project suggest that music biologically connected to the sleep process can affect the sleep latency positively. Future adjustments could include real-time EEG feedback and more sophisticated sound synthesis to further optimize the therapeutic potential of the music. (Less)
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author
Röjås, Elin LU and Cheander, Tove LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Sleep makes music, music makes sleep
course
EEML05 20261
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
EEG, Sonifiering, Musik
language
Swedish
id
9236663
date added to LUP
2026-06-23 12:45:13
date last changed
2026-06-23 12:45:13
@misc{9236663,
  abstract     = {{Sleep difficulties are a prevalent health issue in Sweden, and affects nearly half of the adult population. A variety of sound-based aids are commonly used, including white and pink noise, although scientific evidence for their effectiveness is limited. This project, conducted at Lund University, explores the sonification of electroencephalography (EEG) signals into music to facilitate the process of falling asleep. EEG data was collected from the first sleep cycle of two subjects using ambulatory EEG. Using Matlab, the relative power of three frequency bands, α, θ and δ was extracted and mapped to musical parameters within the F-Lydian scale. The δ activity controlled a foundation drone, θ activity a fifth interval in relation to the drone and the α activity controlled a stochastic melody based on probability. The synthesized music was evaluated by a test group of 32 participants in the ages 21-29 through a subjective survey. Results showed that 37.9% experienced falling asleep being easier than usual and a majority of the participants reported that the music felt calming (59.4%) and pleasant (53.1%). The findings within the project suggest that music biologically connected to the sleep process can affect the sleep latency positively. Future adjustments could include real-time EEG feedback and more sophisticated sound synthesis to further optimize the therapeutic potential of the music.}},
  author       = {{Röjås, Elin and Cheander, Tove}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Från sömn till musik, och från musik till sömn}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}