Freedman R, Papsdorf J D
Biofeedback Self Regul. 1976 Sep;1(3):253-71. doi: 10.1007/BF01001167.
Previous research suggests that self-defined insomniacs are distinguished from normals by high levels of anxiety and physiological arousal, which might be mitigated by muscle relaxation. This study assessed the relative effects of frontal EMG biofeedback, progressive relaxation, and a placebo set of "relaxation" exercises on the sleep of 18 onset insomniacs. Each subject was trained in one of these three methods for six half-hour sessions and slept in the laboratory for two consecutive nights before and after training. The experimental groups demonstrated significant decreases in physiological activity during training while changes in the control group were minimal. Reductions in sleep-onset time were: biofeedback group, 29.66 minutes; progressive relaxation group, 22.92 minutes; control group, 2.79 minutes. The experimental groups improved significantly (p less than 905) more than the control group, but did not differ from each other. No significant relationships between physiological levels and sleep-onset time were found, which suggests that muscle relaxation alone was not responsible for subjects' improvements. Since 20 minutes of daily practice were required to achieve an approximate 30-minute decrease in sleep-onset time, the practical utility of the methods is questioned.
先前的研究表明，自我认定的失眠症患者与正常人的区别在于焦虑和生理唤醒水平较高，而肌肉放松可能会缓解这种情况。本研究评估了前额肌电图生物反馈、渐进性放松以及一组安慰剂“放松”练习对18名初发性失眠症患者睡眠的相对影响。每位受试者接受这三种方法之一的训练，共六个半小时的疗程，并在训练前后连续两晚在实验室睡眠。实验组在训练期间生理活动显著降低，而对照组的变化最小。入睡时间的减少分别为：生物反馈组29.66分钟；渐进性放松组22.92分钟；对照组2.79分钟。实验组的改善显著大于对照组（p小于0.05），但两组之间无差异。未发现生理水平与入睡时间之间存在显著关系，这表明仅肌肉放松并非受试者改善的原因。由于每天需要练习20分钟才能使入睡时间减少约30分钟，因此这些方法的实际效用受到质疑。
