Factors
NASA studies have shown that a variety of factors influence the severity and duration of sleep inertia. These include:
- Depth of sleep when awakened. After roughly 10-30 minutes, the brain enters into slow-wave sleep. Being awakened during this stage yields more sleep inertia than awakening from other stages of sleep.
- Timing of sleep. Sleep inertia is thought to be related to the phase of the body's circadian rhythm. Waking during a drop in body temperature tends to produce more sleep inertia.
- Chemical influences. Studies have shown that drugs such as caffeine can suppress the effect of sleep inertia, possibly by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain.
Sleep inertia can be more severe and last longer when a nap follows a prolonged period of wakefulness or an accumulated sleep debt. Sleep inertia can often be reversed by activity and noise as well as caffeine. Reaction time performance is directly related to sleep stage at awakening; persons awakened during the deepest sleep have the slowest reaction times.
Read more about this topic: Sleep Inertia
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