WikiCommonsĪnother factor that influences alertness upon waking is the stage of sleep at the time. Thus, alert wakefulness may in part require mechanisms that encourage a redistribution of blood flow to the brain – something certain types of sound and music can do.Ī positron emission tomography (PET) scan of the human brain can reveal areas with more activity (in red). Research has also shown blood flow activity within the brain to be diminished after waking, in comparison to the pre-sleep state. This means you can be awake, but not quite with it. Studies show the brain regions important for alert performance (the prefrontal cortical regions) take longer to “start-up” than other areas (such as the basal ganglia) which are important for arousal. Waking relies on complex biological processes, including increased blood flow allocation to the brain. Transitioning from sleep to alertness does not follow an on/off switch-like system, as brain imaging techniques have revealed. It’s a growing concern as it can have serious consequences while performing high-risk tasks, including driving. This cognitive state of reduced alertness is referred to as “ sleep inertia”. In some instances, grogginess after waking has the potential to be dangerous several hours later, by reducing our performance in critical decision-making (such as in health settings, emergency responses, security or while driving). And how we wake up can not only affect our mood and the day’s outlook, but also our cognition and mental performance. In particular, alarms that have the qualities of “tunefulness” (think ABC by The Jackson 5) have melodies that energise the listener, and are great for effective waking.īut to understand why this is the case, we first need to understand how our brains respond to complex stimuli when moving out of the sleep state. Research has now shown certain alarm sounds can indeed enhance our alertness upon waking. Wikipedia, Pawel Czerwinski/Unsplash, Stuart McFarlaneĪnd he appears to have had a point. Pythagoras thought playing certain tunes helped his disciples wake up more alert.
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