Abstract
It has been reported that self-awakening, the ability to awaken without using an alarm at a predetermined time, can reduce sleep inertia immediately after awakening. To clarify the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying this effect, electroencephalogram activity was analyzed for 90 min before awakening on forced- and self-awakening nights for eight participants (21–23 years). The results showed that sigma band power, which reflects sleep spindle activity, gradually decreased during sleep stage 2 before awakening under self-awakening conditions. The previous finding that sleep spindles are involved in the function of maintaining sleep suggests that self-awakening can reduce this function before awakening, thereby attenuating sleep inertia.
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Ikeda, H., Hayashi, M. Electroencephalogram activity before self-awakening. Sleep Biol. Rhythms 6, 256–259 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1479-8425.2008.00366.x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1479-8425.2008.00366.x