Why we sleep better when it rains, according to Harvard

A sleep disorders researcher at Harvard University explained that to understand why the sound of rain What we hear when it hits the ceiling, the floor, or against the bedroom windows helps us reconcile the dreamis related to our ancestors and brain memory.

Why rain is synonymous with sleep and calm

According to experts, there are three biological issues that explain the calming effect of rain:

ozone

When they occur storms with important electrical activity is released ozone gas In lower layers, this has a metallic smell that for many people reminds us of cleanliness and evokes security. Precisely the word “ozone” comes from the Greek “ozein” which means “smell”.

This trace gas, which on the one hand has a notable role in high layers (the ozone layer in the stratosphere), protecting us from the harmful UV B and C radiation of the Sun; It is also present near the surface (in the troposphere), where we can “breathe it” and feel its aroma.

Tropospheric ozone is formed in a way naturalfor example thanks to lightning during a storm.

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Melatonin, the “sleep” hormone

When the sun is present in the sky, our body stops producing melatonin what is the call “sleep hormone”, thanks to the fact that their quantities vary according to the day/night cycle.

Sunlight causes the retina of the eye to send impulses continuous to the pineal gland, stopping the production of melatonin. Then, as the sun goes down or it becomes a cloudy or rainy day, darkness prevails and the light pulses that are sent to the brain They begin to decrease, therefore the pineal gland begins to secrete melatonin, which induces sleep.

Heredity and brain

Although humanity evolved from primitive man, there are issues that we inherited. A very important factor in this connection between rest and rain. Anthropologists claim that “we inherit the taste for the smell of wet earth“, because in prehistory that smell was synonymous with well-being, life and survival, announcing the end of a pernicious period of drought. The long-awaited rain was coming and feeling that particular aroma generated a feeling of peace.

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When it is said “smell of rain” or “wet soil’s smell”, we talk about the aroma generated by the fall of precipitation on the ground. That same one, which can travel several tens of kilometers depending on the direction of the wind, is called petrichor.

Petrichor is generated by raindrops that come into contact with the soil, and when mixed, for example, with tree oils with a substance called geosmin, produced by soil bacteria. This causes an effect sleeping pillour brain even in the 21st century continues to interpret this aroma in the same way.