Hate getting up in the morning? Read on

A new study, as reported by CNN, apparently found that when we first wake up, and for a short time afterwards (a time that varies from person to person), "the effects of sleep inertia may be as bad as or worse than being legally drunk," according to researcher Kenneth Wright of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

That befuddled feeling usually lasts for at least a few minutes but may be detectable for up to two hours, Wright wrote in a report published in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings are relevant to emergency workers such as firefighters, or for truck drivers and resident doctors who must spring into action after awakening from naps. A groggy driver is accident-prone, and a hazy doctor might make a mistake calculating a drug dosage, the report said.

Apparently the researchers discovered that the cortical areas of the brain thought to be responsible for problem-solving, complex thought, and emotions take longer to wake up than other parts of the brain.

Interesting.