Why do we wake up shortly before our alarm goes off? It’s not by chance

By Yaqoot Fatima, Professor of Sleep Health, University of the Sunshine Coast
Alexandra Metse, Senior Lecturer, Psychology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Danielle Wilson, Research Fellow and sleep scientist, University of the Sunshine Coast

You’ve probably experienced it – your alarm is set for 6:30am, yet somehow your eyes snap open a few minutes before it goes off. There’s no sound, no external cue, just the body somehow knowing it’s time.

It might seem strange, but you didn’t wake up by chance. It’s your body clock at work – an amazingly precise internal timing system that regulates when you sleep and wake.

But how exactly does this built-in alarm clock work?

A hormonal wake-up call

Deep in the brain is a small group of neurons called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, often referred to…

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