Everyone has ever happened to us. We arrive late to work or an appointment in the morning because we have ‘stuck’ the sheets. It is likely that the person who was waiting for us protest and reminds us that that’s what the alarm are for, but the most difficult thing to explain is that, in effect, the alarm sounded, we turn it off without realizing it and we continue sleeping.
If this is an isolated episode there is no greater damage than to have to explain our delay, but when it occurs more often, our body is possible to give us a warning signal. According to Marian Martínezneurophysiologist and sleep specialist and director of Neurosomnia, “that tendency to fall asleep despite the sounding of the alarm is because we have a chronic sleep debt.”
The phases of sleep before waking
It should be remembered that the dream is not a uniform state of unconsciousness in which we fall at night, but a cyclical process that is divided into several phases, each with specific characteristics and differentiated activities in our brain. These phases are grouped into two main categories: the dream called NREM, or not REM, and the REM (the acronym in English of rapid eye movements).
Most of the dreams are produced in the REM phase and our body is paralyzed. In the other NREM phases, the body relaxes, brain activity slows down and processes of regeneration of our tissues are produced. This occurs in three stages: N1 (transition between vigil and sleep), N2 (light sleep) and N3 (deep sleep or slow waves).
The N3 Phase of deep sleep is particularly important, since it is the time when cells are regenerated, the waste substances are removed from the brain and Strengthens the immune system.
The problem of awakening in the morning is usually related to the sleep phase in which we are when the alarm sounds. If the alarm surprises us during phase N3 (deep sleep), it is much more difficult to awaken consciously. This is because, during this phase, the brain is in a low reactivity status to external stimuli. In other words, the threshold to wake up is higher, which explains why we can turn off the alarm without remembering it later.
However, the phases of deep sleep are produced above in the first half of the night. If we are going through a deep sleep phase just before waking up, it may mean that we have not managed to reach this state before. In addition, there are other factors that can influence.
Turning off the alarm clock without remembering it is a common phenomenon that occurs when the brain has not completed its sleep transition to vigil
Sleep, adenosine and chronophytic spouts
Intuitively know that there are people who sleep ‘like a trunk’, and others have a lighter dream. These differences appear in electroencephalograms in the form of the so -called sleep spindles (Sleep Spindles in English). The Sleep spokesmen They are electrical signals similar to bursts, and it has been seen that they act as a species noise cancellation system. This makes people who generate more sleeping spark Seminal study published in 2010 on brain rhythms.
“There are people who have real difficulty to arouse,” says Dr. Martínez. “Especially in the last days of the week, it is easier for this to happen on Thursday or Friday than on Monday, because we come from the weekend more rested,” he adds.
Another factor is the elimination of adenosine, a compound that accumulates in the brain during the day, and that when it reaches a certain level produces the sensation of sleep. When we sleep, our brain eliminates adenosine and its levels decrease, which allows us to feel fresh when we wake up.
However, if we have a short or interrupted dream, it does not give time to eliminate the entire accumulated adenosinethe levels are still high and it costs us more to wake up. In addition, caffeine intercepts adenosine, so coffee prevents us from feeling drowsiness. This can help us keep alert, but delays the decrease in adenosine levels, and prolongs the time we feel asleep in the morning (something that we are wrongly trying to solve with more coffee).
On the other hand, the circadian rhythm or biological clock regulates sleep and vigil cycles based on light and darkness. This rhythm is controlled by the supraquiasmatic nucleus (NSQ), a group of cells in the hypothalamus that responds to light changes. When the NSQ detects light, it sends signals to reduce melatonin production, sleep hormone, and increase brain activity.
But not everyone has this internal clock on the same time. This is something known as the chronotype. We know that there are ‘owls’ and ‘Alondras’, people who feel more awake in the morning, and others who are more active at night. For the latter, waking up a very early jump is something that is very uphill, since they are more likely to be in one of the phases of deep sleep.
Turning off the alarm clock without remembering it is a common phenomenon that occurs when the brain has not completed its transition from sleep to vigil. During the deep sleep, the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for decision -making and conscious control, It is in a state of low activity. This means that, although we can perform simple actions such as turning off the alarm clock, we are not fully aware of what we are doing.
There are amazing and alarming figures of people who are sleeping below seven hours [diarias]there is a chronic sleep debt in the general population
Marian Martínez
– neurophysiologist and sleep specialist
However, as we have seen, this is more likely to happen if there is an insufficient or poor dream, aggravated by factors such as stress or use of electronic devices before sleeping. A study Posted in Sleep Advances in 2020 He found that exposure to the blue light of the screens before sleeping suppresses the production of melatonin, which delays the beginning of the dream and reduces its quality.
“There are amazing and alarming figures of people who are sleeping below seven hours, there is a chronic sleep debt in the general population,” says Dr. Martínez. “It worsens as the days of the week go by, and the weekend they want to compensate and get up according to what their body asks for. But people are seeing how normal sleep six hours or even less, when investigations say an adult would have to sleep between seven and eight hours, ”he explains.
How we avoid turning off the alarm clock without realizing
To avoid this problem, the first thing is to address the quality of sleep. One of the most effective strategies is to adjust the sleep schedule to make sure the necessary hours (between seven and nine hours for most adults) and thus arouse in a lighter phase of sleep.
Another possible solution is to expose yourself to natural light in the morning. Sunlight helps to synchronize the circadian rhythm and reduce melatonin levels, which facilitates awakening. In addition, it is advisable to avoid the use of electronic devices at least one hour before sleeping and create an environment conducive to sleep, such as maintaining the dark, fresh and silent room.
Finally, if we turn off the alarm of the alarm without realizing, in the first place we can prove this: put the alarm away from the bed. So there will be no choice but to get up to turn it off.
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