Which alarm melody is easiest to wake up to?
Educational Program Health / / December 28, 2020
Our well-being depends not only on the duration and quality of sleep, but also on what kind of alarm signal we wake up to. This was discovered by scientists from the Royal University of Technology of Melbourne (RMIT, Australia) in a small studyAlarm tones, music and their elements: Analysis of reported waking sounds to counteract sleep inertia, which covered 50 people.
Why waking up correctly is important
Initially, the researchers were not interested in the sounds emitted by alarm clocks, but a completely different question.
Inertia sleep - this is the name of the transitional state, which occurs immediately after a person opens his eyes, and lasts until he wakes up completely. You've probably experienced it yourself. A classic example: you wake up from the phone ringing, pick up the receiver and cannot immediately figure out who is calling and what they want from you. This slight lethargy, heaviness in the head is inertia.
In different conditions, sleep inertiaSleep inertia can last from a few seconds to 4 hours. All this time she actively influences the state of health,
productivity and the ability to make decisions. And sometimes it can lead to disastrous consequences.Sleep inertia has been seen as the likely cause of the 2010 Air India Express plane crash, which killed 158 people.
It is assumed that the ship's captain dozed off (transferring control to the co-pilot, of course). And when he was awakened to supervise a difficult landing, awake he made several bad decisions at once. They led to the tragedy.
The Melbourne researchers wanted to find out what factors influence the duration of sleep inertia. And they found that the melody of the alarm clock plays almost the main role in this.
Which alarm melody is easier to wake up to?
For several weeks, volunteers, using a specially designed survey, recorded their condition (feeling sleepiness, cheerfulness, other sensations) after waking up. In one of the points of the questionnaire, it was proposed to indicate under which alarm signal the subject woke up. And that's what turned out.
The volume, duration, pace, and pitch of the call had practically no effect on the quality of awakening and the duration of sleep inertia. But a lot depended on the melody.
Volunteers whose alarm clocks played a melody rather than making loud or harsh sounds were significantly less likely to feel drowsy or lethargic than others.
Moreover, the more melodic and rhythmic the signal was, the easier people woke up and felt better after that. As examples of optimal melodies, the study cites the songs "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys, "Close to Me" by The Cure. Other songs will be just as effective - with a distinct rhythm and a smooth transition from note to note. But efficiency sounds of nature below: there is no pronounced rhythm in them.
Scientists are still at a loss to say what exactly caused this effect. But it is assumed that melodic sounds do not disrupt the normal functioning of the brain at the moment of awakening and allow the body to quickly and easily transition from a state of sleep to wakefulness.
This is especially important for those who need to be alert and focused immediately after the alarm goes off. For example, employees of emergency rescue services, firefighters, pilots. However, everyone should use this life hack so that the inertia of sleep does not deprive you of good health and productivity in the morning.
We have put together a playlist of melodic compositions of different genres. Choose an awakening song of your choice.
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