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. 2019 Aug 22:11:155-165.
doi: 10.2147/NSS.S188911. eCollection 2019.

Sleep inertia: current insights

Cassie J Hilditch  1 , Andrew W McHill  2
Affiliations

Sleep inertia: current insights

Cassie J Hilditch et al. Nat Sci Sleep. .

Abstract

Sleep inertia, or the grogginess felt upon awakening, is associated with significant cognitive performance decrements that dissipate as time awake increases. This impairment in cognitive performance has been observed in both tightly controlled in-laboratory studies and in real-world scenarios. Further, these decrements in performance are exaggerated by prior sleep loss and the time of day in which a person awakens. This review will examine current insights into the causes of sleep inertia, factors that may positively or negatively influence the degree of sleep inertia, the consequences of sleep inertia both in the laboratory and in real-world settings, and lastly discuss potential countermeasures to lessen the impact of sleep inertia.

Keywords: cognitive performance; countermeasures; grogginess.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. McHill reports speaker honorarium or travel reimbursement fees from the Utah Sleep Research Society and the California Precast Concrete Association. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A schematic of the three-process model of sleep regulation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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