Although it may seem trivial or a matter of taste, the truth is that the type of sound we choose for our alarm clock matters, according to a study published by scientists at the University of Melbourne. According to its authors, people who wake up listening to melodic music suffer less levels of sleep inertia than those who use the classic beep of alarms.
Sleep inertia is a sleep-wake disorder that is characterized by a state of attention and reduced cognition : it is that typical state of daze in which we find ourselves when we wake up and that can last from a few minutes to several hours.
The problem is that too long a state of sleep inertia can affect our performance and even cause dangerous situations: for example, one of the hypotheses being considered in the case of the Air India Express accident in 2010 is that the cause was the inertia of the dream, since the captain just woke up from a nap in flight just before the disaster, which would have led him to make bad decisions.
In this work, the scientists followed 50 people, evaluating their way of waking up in the morning and their performance in the following hours. While, in general, sounds serve to attract human attention, the truth is that melodic music can sustain it for longer and help the brain work better in the morning. The authors noted that pop songs, with a strong rhythmic element, are highly recommended, citing as examples ‘Good Vibrations’ by Beach Boys and ‘Cure to Me’ by The Cure. Classical music and the sounds of nature, which many mobiles already incorporate into their battery of alarm melodies, would also be highly recommended to help reduce morning grogginess.
“When they wake up, people who experience sleep inertia may show signs of decreased alertness and reduced cognition, manifesting in involuntary errors,” explains Stuart McFarlane, one of the authors.
Tips to wake up better
Another recommendation, as explained in this Nobbot article, would be to reduce the volume of the alarm, since loud and sudden sounds can activate the amygdala, which is the organ that prepares us for the fight or flight response. As research has shown, it is much less stressful to wake up to a gradually increasing sound than to wake up with a scare, as is often the case with conventional alarms.
The authors are confident that this work can be very useful in designing new types of alarm melodies that help reduce sleep inertia. “Given the increasing demands in this 24-hour society, maximizing human alertness by reducing sleep inertia can provide a safer environment in situations where performance is critical,” they explain.
This study corroborates the results obtained by another work carried out at the University of Cambridge that even came up with a list of the twenty best songs to wake up to.
