Though changing habitual behavior is easier said than done, to sleep better, one tweak may be as simple as putting in your earphones and pressing play, reports The Conversation.

Perhaps the answer is hidden in a more basic question. Given the way sleep is structured, can music even influence it to begin with?

The answer is yes and no.

Sleep is not a gentle slide into unconsciousness. Rather, it’s a complicated ride into an alternate conscious state, where reality is actively created from internal information, rather than external sensation.

That transition from “outside” to “inside” happens in four distinct steps. The sleep process manifests as a non-REM (NREM) phase (which is divided into three parts: NREM 1, 2 and 3) and Rapid Eye Movement (REM).