Best Alarm Tone to Help You Start Your Day More Alert

We all agree that sound of the morning alarm is the most annoying sound ever, as it means the end of our peaceful sleep.

However, a new study suggests making your favorite song the alarm tone instead of the basic beeping helps you start your day more alert and less groggy, according to researchers from RMIT University in Australia.

The researchers explain that using melodic alarms, ones that you could hum or sing along to, could be an easy measure to boost mental alertness through the day.

Interestingly, the researchers paid attention to the effects of melodic, as well as unmelodic alarms on mental alertness.

Melodic alarms are those you could sing or hum along to, such as Madonna's song Borderline, Midnight Oil's Wedding Cake Island, or Happy by Pharrell Williams. On the other hand, the unmelodic alarms include basic shrills, and the classic iPhone beeping tone.

Moreover, the team created an app to allow participants to wake up to different alarm sounds on their smartphone, then immediately perform a game-like task to assess their alertness.

The results showed that participants whose alarms were melodic were faster and more accurate in the game, compared to those who woke up to classic alarm sounds.

In order to get more confident assertion, they have reviewed previous studies on the effects of alarms in emergency situations.

On his part, Stuart McFarlane, who led the research, explained: "When children awaken in emergency conditions, a low-pitched alarm or even the sound of a human voice seem to be much more effective than conventional higher-frequency alarms at combating the effects of sleep inertia."

McFarlane clarified that children demonstrated better response time and memory of events with the right type of alarm.

As the reason for this remains unclear, the researchers suggest there may be frequency bandwidths in songs that activate certain areas of the brain.

"For example, it has been shown that music does activate certain areas of the brain that control attention, although the exact mechanisms of this effect are still being investigated," McFarlane noted.

Aside from making it easier for you to wake up in the morning, the research team indicated that it could be also applied to several other scenarios.

"If you have to wake up early and drive kids to school, you might choose a wake-up alarm that leaves you as alert as possible, whereas you might choose something different to wake up for your Saturday morning yoga class," the researcher illustrated.

"Vehicles could be fitted with personalized alarms to help drivers stay focused and avoid falling asleep at the wheel," he went on saying. "Human space exploration may one day use these types of sound treatments to maximize astronaut well-being and performance."