People claim that hearing certain noises helps them to sleep better. One of the names we give this is White Noise, which includes continuous sounds like television static, thunderstorms, and moving traffic.
If you're one of those people, then you probably understand perfectly why it helps you sleep, but for those that don't, here's a little bit behind the science of White Noise.
It's basically a way to prevent you from hearing other distracting noises in the early stages of sleep. During these stages, you're more susceptible to being woken up by alerts from your cell phone or noises outside your house.
With White Noise, which is a constant and predictable sound, your brain feels more at ease as it sleeps because it doesn't have to feel 'on the alert' for other noises. Instead, White Noise fills the room with a monotonous sound that it expects to hear.
People find that White Noise drowns out things that normally distract them from sleep, and so if you're having trouble sleeping, perhaps you should try using it.
