And a new report has helpfully ranked the iPhone alarms so you know which ones to opt for to give you the best start to your day. Apparently some alarm tones can help you start the day feeling refreshed and ready to go, while others are prone to exacerbating feelings of sleep inertia, so you wind up feeling groggy, sleepy and confused. You might think that any tone that jolts you out of sleep and into wakefulness is doing its job perfectly well, but there's more to it than that. But one aspect you might not have fully considered before is your alarm tone. Your genes come into is, as do your lifestyle choices, and of course, how well you slept the night before. There are plenty of factors that affect how awake you feel in the mornings. Sound of music: How melodic alarms could reduce morning grogginess. Alarm tones, music and their elements: Analysis of reported waking sounds to counteract sleep inertia. Other factors to consider are the placement of the alarm, volume, and possibly the accessibility of the snooze button. The study did not take into account the participant’s lifestyle, sleep habits, or length of sleep.Īll of these could play a role in sleep inertia, regardless of the alarm sound. While the results indicate that alarm tones should be melodic, more research still needs to be done. Melodic alarm tones reduced morning grogginess, while neutral, unmelodic alarm tones increased morning grogginess.Įxamples of melodic alarms include The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” or The Cure’s “Close to Me.” An example of an unmelodic alarm is an incessant beep, beep, beep. They did, however, find an association between melody and sleep inertia. The researchers did not find a significant relationship between sleep inertia and alarm sound type, nor did they find a significant relationship between sleep inertia and subjective feelings about the alarm. Relationship between sleep inertia and alarm sound type The study lasted from May 2017 to May 2018. The questionnaire included questions about whether they used an alarm, the type of alarm sound, grogginess, and subjective feelings about their alarm.
The researchers instructed the participants to complete an anonymous, online questionnaire within four hours of waking. The studyįifty people participated in the study from the comfort of their homes. Since society heavily relies on morning alarms, with 68.2% of people using one, determining the best alarm sound to wake up can drive early day efficiency. Previous research has indicated that music and alarm sounds could negate the effects of sleep inertia. Optimizing morning alertness is what prompted researchers at RMIT University, Australia, to investigate the relationship between sleep inertia and alarm sound. What to do to optimize morning alertness? In 2010, Air India Flight Express Flight 812 crashed soon after the pilot woke up from a nap. While four hours of sleepiness may be permissible for some (caffeine solves all problems, right?), some professions require immediate alertness, like first responders or NASA astronauts.įor these professions, sleep inertia can be fatal. Morning grogginess-or, more formally, sleep inertia-is a decrease in alertness between zero to four hours after waking up. What sound do you wake up to? Is it the harsh, monotonous tone of beep, beep, beep? Is it your favorite tune? Clock radio?Īccording to a new study, published in PLoS One, the sound you set for your wake-up alarm could affect how disoriented you are in the morning. Difficulty waking up in the morning? The best alarm sound to wake up to is a melodic alarm tone, recent research suggests.
0 kommentar(er)
