Hitting the snooze button boosts wakefulness, brain function: study

You snooze, you … win?

Getting a few more minutes of shut-eye after snoozing your alarm could actually help avid snoozers wake up, new research suggests.

The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Sleep Research, found that people who snoozed regularly got additional sleep and were more cognitively alert upon waking, despite the disturbed sleep.

The Stockholm University researchers surveyed 1,732 participants about their morning habits, specifically inquiring about the pesky snooze button and how often they give in to the few extra minutes of z’s.

1,195 people admitted they hit snooze or set multiple morning alarms at least “sometimes,” and a quarter of people blamed “feeling too tired to wake up” for pressing “snooze.”

On average, snoozers — who were generally younger than non-snoozers by about 6 years and more likely to be night owls — reported more sleep inertia, or morning drowsiness, when waking immediately.

“These individuals may need more time to ward off the effects of sleep inertia, and snoozing may be a potential way of doing this,” wrote the team, led by Tina Sundelin.

In a second study, researchers monitored the sleep of 31 routine snoozers, who could snooze for half an hour one morning but were forced to immediately wake on the other.

Despite their sleep being disturbed by the blaring alarm, snoozers, who still scored more than 20 minutes of shut-eye, weren’t forced to wake from deep sleep and performed better on cognitive tests after waking up.

“Even though participants felt equally sleepy upon waking in both conditions, they performed better on three out of the four cognitive tests at final waking when they had been allowed 30 [minutes] of snoozing beforehand,” the study authors wrote.

In fact, the results are a dream come true for snoozers, as mood, drowsiness and cortisol were not negatively affected.

Past research has also shown the potential benefits of pressing “snooze” in the morning, such as improving social relationships.

Sleep is linked to an array of health benefits — and too little sleep could be detrimental.

Not catching enough z’s has been linked to brain aging, sickness and even erectile dysfunction, however, some sleep experts claim that avoiding certain foods — like chocolate, ice cream and other junk food — or reducing blue light from screens could help.