Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

Re:Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Night... by xchip on Tuesday February 27, 2018 @05:50AM (#16472423)

TL;DR:

These are the reasons

1) Various studies have indicated that sleeping with a weighted blanket can trigger an uptick in the brain’s production of serotonin 2)The other element that might explain our need for blankets is what Hoagland refers to as “pure conditioning.”

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Re:Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Night... by strawcomb on Tuesday February 27, 2018 @06:03AM (#16472475)

> a weighted blanket can trigger an uptick in the brain’s production of serotonin

Surely that could be a result of conditioning.

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Re:Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Night... by astura on Tuesday February 27, 2018 @08:32AM (#16473151)

Well anti-anxiety compression vests work for cats and dogs and there's some very preliminary evidence that deep pressure touch improves subjective relaxation https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3688151/

This is actually the first time I've ever heard of weighed blankets. As someone with severe anxiety that's helped with a hard squeeze, I'm very interested in getting one, I just wish I could try one first.

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Re:Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Night... by strawcomb on Tuesday February 27, 2018 @06:02PM (#16478910)

> work for cats and dogs That could still be conditioning.

> deep pressure touch improves subjective relaxation That could still be conditioning.

I'm not saying it definitely is conditioning, but I don't see enough evidence to rule it out.

For example, these animals could associate the pressure with the warmth and comfort of being the in the womb. So in a way they've been conditioned by being in the womb. Maybe animals grown in a 'test tube' wouldn't give the same results.

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