People with melodic alarms experience reduced levels of morning grogginess, according to preliminary research published in PLOS One. The findings provide new insights into how to lessen the impairment in performance that is often experienced upon waking from sleep.

“Through our research in auditory perception, cognition and sleep inertia (morning grogginess) it became apparent that although auditory alarms are a common method for awakening people, knowledge for the effectiveness of these stimuli on cognition post awakening was very slim,” explained Stuart McFarlane, the lead author of the study and a doctoral researcher at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

“Considering that sleep inertia inhibits human performance after waking, and that most digital devices today are capable of playing complex and easily accessible audio, we thought it was a particularly relevant topic that required more attention. In sum, this research is focused on the improvement of waking sound stimuli for the reduction of sleep inertia.”

In the study, 50 participants completed an online survey that allowed them to remotely log the type of sound they used to wake up, and then rated their grogginess and alertness levels.

The researchers found that alarm sounds rated as melodic were associated with lower levels of sleep inertia compared to sounds rated as unmelodic, somewhat unmelodic, neither unmelodic nor melodic, and very melodic.

“We think that a harsh ‘beep beep beep’ might work to disrupt or confuse our brain activity when waking, while a more melodic sound like the Beach Boys ‘Good Vibrations’ or The Cure’s ‘Close to Me’ may help us transition to a waking state in a more effective way,” said co-author Adrian Dyer.

The findings could have important implications for anyone who needs to perform safety-critical tasks soon after waking.

“People need to be aware of sleep inertia’s negative effects on human performance after waking up. The grogginess we may feel during this phase typically lasts for up to 30 minutes, however, periods from 2 to 4 hours have also been reported,” McFarlane told PsyPost.

“Not everyone will experience the full impacts, but for those that do, care should be taken when performing tasks that require peak performance within this period. This may include emergency responders, aircraft pilots, or people that have to drive in unforeseen circumstances. If we can counteract the symptoms of sleep inertia by any measure through the alarm sounds we use, it would be a great benefit to many. In this first study, we have found evidence that alarms perceived as melodic may be a factor to consider in reducing symptoms of sleep inertia.”

But there is still much to learn about the relationship between auditory alarms and sleep inertia.

“This study is the initial stage of ongoing research in a very complex field. The current results should be considered as positive reference points that we are utilizing to focus our research efforts moving forward. Our primary goal at this stage is to research and report results that have been derived from ecological conditions. The ultimate goal would be to take what we find and perform larger scale, controlled laboratory studies to clarify our understandings of this research area,” McFarlane explained.

“We are continuing to focus our research on the effects alarm sounds have on sleep inertia, and hope to share our results with the wider community in the near future.”

The study, “Alarm tones, music and their elements: Analysis of reported waking sounds to counteract sleep inertia“, was authored by Stuart J. McFarlane, Jair E. Garcia, Darrin S. Verhagen, and Adrian G. Dyer.