A new study: Do you wake up immediately after the alarm rings? Here's a surprise

Weather of Arabia - The majority of individuals resort to using the alarm clock on their mobile phones to ensure that they wake up on time in the morning, and although many people use the alarm clock to wake up, many of them do not open their eyes immediately, but rather tend to snooze for an additional ten minutes after the bell rings. For the first time, and in some cases, they press the snooze button to get additional short periods of sleep, and here the fundamental question arises: Are those extra minutes of sleep that a person feels like they are taking over from their morning effective or do they negatively affect the body?

Benefits of a nap... A recent study reveals the effectiveness of extra moments of sleep after the alarm clock

A recent study showed that pressing the “snooze” button to get an additional period of sleep may actually be effective for the individual, which contradicts the prevailing belief that usually describes this habit as laziness or lethargy, and according to a report published by “Scientific American” magazine, a recent study published In the Journal of Sleep Research, it was found that individuals who regularly use the snooze button lose only about six minutes of sleep per day, without this having a negative impact on the level of sleepiness or mood in the morning, and based on the results of the tests, it appears that this process actually improves awareness and comprehension.

This study supports previous research conducted in 2022 , which also indicated that individuals who tend to snooze frequently do not generally feel sleepy compared to others who are not inclined to this habit.

The role of naps in improving cognition and eliminating morning sleepiness

Studies also indicate that napping plays a role in getting rid of morning drowsiness by facilitating the transition from a period of deep sleep to a lighter stage. The period of good rest at night is usually considered to consist of four to five sleep cycles, and each cycle contains four stages, and light sleep occurs. In the first two stages of NREM, the muscles relax, brain activity slows down as well as the breathing and heart rate slow, but the person can still wake up easily. As the night progresses, individuals gradually reach deeper stages of sleep, where it is more difficult to wake up during the stage. The third and final stage of NREM and the first stage of REM.

The results of the studies indicate that additional light sleep can also improve cognition, as individuals who napped even in the last half hour of their sleep did not feel tired during the day, and they also remained alert enough to perform well on cognitive tests related to processing speed, episodic memory, and executive functioning. In addition to simple arithmetic operations, a second cognitive test showed that these benefits persist for at least 40 minutes after waking up.

The effect of napping on deep sleep

Studies have revealed that napping limits the brain's ability to quickly return to the deeper stages of sleep, by monitoring levels of cortisol, which promotes alertness, in individuals who nap in the morning. The results also show a greater rise in this hormone compared to people who stay up all night continuously, and in In this context, the cortisol response may have started a little earlier, and the nap may have helped the brain to complete its tasks more effectively.

However, Cassie Hilditch, a sleep scientist at San Jose State University, points out that the relationship between napping and cognition still needs more research. She also points to other studies that show the opposite effect, with people who don't nap seeing an improvement in alertness, while people who do nap experience a decline in cognitive performance.

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Sources:

alarabiya