In search of the best melody to wake up – Stuart McFarlane

By returning to work in the office (now that we can no longer roll out of bed and walk straight into a meeting on Zoom) many of us will wake up earlier to escape the morning rush hour. So it’s important to make sure we get the better of our alarm clock game.

But what kind of alarm clock provides maximum vigilance upon awakening? Pythagoras asked this same question around the year 500 BC. The philosopher believed that some specific songs – melodies that awaken the energies – had the ability to counteract the sleepiness that we carry around when we open our eyes. And apparently he wasn’t all wrong. Research has shown that certain alarm sounds can actually improve our alertness.

In particular, the more “catchy” melodies (think of Abc by Jackson 5) stimulate the listener, and are great for effective awakening. But to understand why this happens, we must first understand how our brain responds to complex stimuli when it comes out of sleep.

Waking up well is important
Nobody likes waking up groggy. And how we wake up can affect not only our mood and the course of the day, but also our cognitive and mental performance. In some cases, numbness after waking up can be potentially dangerous for up to several hours later, reducing our decision-making skills in sensitive settings (for example, healthcare, emergency, safety, or driving). This cognitive state of reduced alertness is referred to as ‘sleep inertia’, a condition of increasing concern as it can have serious consequences when performing high-risk activities, including driving.

How does the brain wake up?
The transition from sleep to alertness does not follow an off / on switch system, as functional brain magnetic resonance imaging techniques have revealed. Arousal relies on complex biological processes, including increased blood flow distribution to the brain. Studies show that performance-important regions of the brain that require attention (the prefrontal cortical regions) take longer to “start up” than other areas (such as the basal ganglia), which are important for awakening. This means that you may be awake, but not quite.

Research has also shown that blood flow activity within the brain decreases after awakening, compared to the pre-sleep state. Thus, awake alertness may in part require mechanisms that induce redistribution of blood flow to the brain – something that certain types of sounds and music are capable of eliciting.

Another factor that affects wakefulness is the stage of sleep you are in at the moment. You are less likely to feel groggy if you wake up from a light sleep than from a deeper slow wave or REM sleep. A light sleep phase is characterized by theta wave frequencies (measured by the electrical activity of the brain) and can be associated with the feeling of sleepiness. In this stage of sleep, awakening to external stimuli such as an alarm clock can quickly shake a person out of sleep. Conversely, deep sleep or slow wave sleep is made up of delta wave frequencies, which are associated with a state of unconsciousness. This is the stage of sleep that is most difficult to wake up from.

The effectiveness of the alarm also depends on age. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 need louder sounds than older people, and preteens need an even higher noise floor than young adults. At 18 it might take an alarm 20 decibels louder than it would take at 80.

Are the frequency and melody of the sound important?
But when it comes to choosing the sound of an alarm clock, which one is the best? There is increasing research that different sounds can positively affect human performance after awakening. Our systematic review published in 2020 showed that frequencies (the height of sound measured in Hertz) around 500 Hz work better in awakening young children than types above 2,000 Hz. There is no research to explain whether this holds true. even for adults, but it is assumed that the same types of alarms would be beneficial.

Voice notifications like a person shouting “wake up!” work better than higher frequencies. However, they are not as effective as 500Hz beeps – similar to those pre-installed in most cell phones. Our research also investigates how the properties of music, and melody in particular, play a role in fostering vigilant wakefulness.

We have found that how people react to the “catchiness” of their alarm clock also reflects how groggy they feel after waking up. People who use alarm clocks with a tune they will happily hum will experience less numbness than someone who has an alarm clock with the classic beep.

With this in mind, we developed a bespoke rhythmic melody that resulted in significantly better performance upon awakening and after, compared to classic beep alarms. We designed this experimental alarm clock to increase alertness and reduce morning numbness.

Other studies have also found that popular music (which can be interpreted as melodic) is useful for counteracting sleep inertia after a short nap, and even more useful if it is music that the listener personally likes.

What can I do to improve my alarm clock?
What does all this mean for our daily life? Well, considering what has been said so far, we believe that the perfect alarm clock should go something like this: have a melody that you can easily sing or hum to; have a dominant frequency around 500 Hz, or the key of C 5 and not be too fast or too slow (ideally 100-120 beats per minute).

It should also be remembered that the alarm clock must be louder for young people (or for those who are particularly heavy sleepers). If we look at the default alarms available on our devices, there is still a lot to do, especially since research in this area is relatively recent. So, we imagine that the availability of custom alarm downloads will increase over time.

Most of the pre-installed sounds, at the appropriate volume, will wake you up, but some specially designed melodies (such as the one shown) have been modeled on the latest research not only to stimulate arousal but also to provide greater alertness.

(Translation by Francesco De Lellis)