Yes patch gets you into REM sleep very quickly

Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a patch that helps people enter REM sleep faster and stay in it longer, without drugs or surgery. In a study of 28 people, participants who used the NEUSLeeP patch entered REM sleep 43 minutes earlier than usual and stayed in it for about 16 minutes longer.

The patch works by combining two things that aren't usually combined in a wearable device: gentle ultrasonic stimulation and electrodes that read brain activity. This allows it to reach deep areas of the brain associated with REM sleep, while also monitoring how the brain responds in real time from outside the skull.

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Kai Wing “Kevin” Tang, a recent UT (University of Texas) PhD graduate in biomedical engineering and lead author of the work, said the achievement, published in Nature Communications , marks new ground for the field.

Researchers have never before been able to noninvasively reach deep brain regions involved in REM sleep while simultaneously monitoring brain activity as it occurs. According to Huiliang “Evan” Wang, an assistant professor in the university’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, who supervised the research, the combination of stimulation and real-time monitoring gives the device its practical advantage. He noted that a skin-attached device like NEUSLeeP could offer researchers and doctors new ways to study sleep and treat sleep disorders in patients’ homes.

The benefits aren't just limited to sleep time, though. In healthy participants, the stimulation also increased heart rate variability, a measure used to assess how well the body responds to stress. Brain scans showed changes in circuits related to emotion, suggesting the patch could do more than help people sleep—it could also help them cope with stress.

Gregory Fonzo, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Dell Medical School and a co-investigator, linked these findings to the role that REM sleep plays in the brain. He explained that REM is not only the stage during which dreams occur – it is also the stage where the brain processes emotions and adapts to stress. As a result, boosting REM sleep could potentially give people a new tool for coping with stress and improving overall well-being.

This is important because REM sleep disorders are repeatedly linked to depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Current treatments, such as medication, do not always address the underlying sleep problems and can have side effects.

DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73787-6

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