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UrduThe shortest day of the year, December 21, is almost upon us. And daylight saving time may soon be a thing of the past. What does this mean for our bodies and our health? Rockefeller scientist Sofia Axelrod, PhD, a…
Tag: Circadian Rhythms
Insomnia Symptoms May Predict Subsequent Drinking in Adults
People with symptoms of insomnia may be likely to increase their drinking over time, according to a study published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. In the study of adult drinkers, people who had worse insomnia symptoms at the outset of the study tended to increase the amount they drank and the number of times they binge drank during the subsequent year. The researchers found that, even at subclinical levels, insomnia symptoms were a significant predictor of future drinking in adults, suggesting that insomnia symptoms should be addressed to help reduce the risk of problem drinking.
A surprising way to disrupt sleep
Circadian rhythms, the internal biological clocks that regulate our daily activities, are essential for maintaining health and well-being. While the role of transcription in these rhythms is well-established, a new study sheds light on the critical importance of post-transcriptional processes.
RPI Researcher of Circadian Rhythms Receives $2 Million Grant
With daylight savings time ending soon, we anticipate a change in the timing of daylight hours with the sunrise occurring earlier in the morning.
Circadian rhythms and epilepsy Part II: Dr. Maxime Baud
What percentage of people with epilepsy have rhythms to their seizures? How do anti-seizure medications affect rhythms? Is it possible to manipulate seizure rhythms? In Part 2 of our two-part series on circadian rhythms, Dr. Laurent Sheybani talks with Dr. Maxime Baud.
Binge Drinking and Night Shift Work Linked to Greater Likelihood of COVID Infection in Nurses
Working the night shift or binge drinking may double the risk of COVID-19 infection, according to a study of nurses published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. Both alcohol misuse and night shift work have been shown to impact sleep and promote inflammation in the body, which has been linked to COVID disease severity. The findings from this study strongly suggest that alcohol and circadian misalignment contribute to the development of COVID disease in people exposed to the virus.
Dissecting the Circadian Clock in Real Time
Scientists have made progress in understanding the circadian clock, the 24-hour cycle that synchronizes with light-dark exposure, and how it functions. They developed a new way to study how the circadian clock synchronizes in real time, revealing surprises about the clock’s mechanisms.
Trouble falling asleep at night? Chase that daytime light, study shows
A new study reports that college students in Seattle fall asleep later and wake up later in winter, likely because — as the study also found — in winter the students received less daylight exposure. The researcher say that outside in the morning, even on cloudy days, is the best way to prevent this circadian rhythm “delay.”
Permanent daylight saving time would reduce deer-vehicle collisions, study shows
Adopting permanent DST in the United States would reduce deer-vehicle collisions and likely prevent an estimated 36,550 deer deaths, 33 human deaths, 2,054 human injuries and $1.19 billion in costs each year. Deer-vehicle collisions would decrease under permanent DST because skies would be brighter later in the evening
How Changes in Length of Day Change the Brain and Subsequent Behavior
Using a mouse model, UC San Diego researchers describe a process in which affected neurons switch expression of neurotransmitters in response to day length stimuli, triggering related behavioral changes.
Flozin Drugs Lower Salt-Induced Hypertension, Maintain Circadian Rhythm in Rats
Article title: SGLT2 inhibition effect on salt-induced hypertension, RAAS and Na+ transport in Dahl SS rats Authors: Olha Kravtsova, Ruslan Bohovyk, Vladislav Levchenko, Oleg Palygin, Christine A. Klemens, Timo Rieg, Alexander Staruschenko From the authors: “The main findings of the…
Seizures in the Canadian Arctic: A public health crisis, hidden in plain sight
He set out to research the effect of polar day-night patterns on seizure frequency and epilepsy. He found something he never expected: a public health crisis in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, relevant to geographically isolated communities and Indigenous peoples.
Working from home and can’t sleep? WVU neuroscientist says your circadian rhythms are to blame
Disruptions to the circadian rhythms that regulate the sleep-wake cycle may especially affect people working from home, according to WVU researcher Randy Nelson.
Could a Novel Light Therapy Help People With Alzheimers?
Recently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai a five-year grant to out whether exposing patients to a combination of light therapies will slow Alzheimer’s debilitating effects.
“Springing forward” affects early birds less than night owls, study finds
Every spring, the Daylight Saving Time shift robs people of an hour of sleep – and a new study shows that DNA plays a role in how much the time change affects individuals. People whose genetic profile makes them more likely to be “early birds” can adjust to the time change in a few days. But those who tend to be “night owls” could take more than a week to get back on track.
Successful DNA replication in cyanobacteria depends on the circadian clock
A new study from the University of Chicago has found that the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus uses a circadian clock to precisely time DNA replication, and that interrupting this circadian rhythm prevents replication from completing and leaves chromosomes unfinished overnight.
Ditching the daylight saving time change for better sleep, health and safety
If the month of March has you dreading the night when we “spring forward” to daylight saving time, you’re not alone. More than half of Americans say they’re tired after the time change, and 63% of Americans say that they support the elimination of seasonal time changes in favor of a national, fixed, year-round time. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, research supports public opposition to seasonal time changes, and sleep science suggests that permanent standard time is the best option.
Shift Work Disrupts Kidney Rhythms, Contributes to Kidney and Heart Disease
Article title: Environmental circadian disruption suppresses rhythms in kidney function and accelerates excretion of renal injury markers in urine of male hypertensive rats Authors: Atlantis M. Hill, G. Ryan Crislip, Adam Stowie, Ivory Ellis, Anne Ramsey, Oscar Castanon-Cervantes, Michelle L.…
Against the Clock: Circadian Rhythm Genes in Key Brain Region are Involved in Binge Drinking
Researchers have identified a causal link between binge drinking and circadian clock genes in a brain region previously implicated in hazardous alcohol use. Binge drinking is a common and harmful pattern of alcohol use, responsible for more than half of alcohol-related deaths. There is already robust evidence that genes involved in controlling circadian rhythm — the body’s natural processes that follow a 24 hour light/dark cycle — are associated with hazardous drinking and alcohol abuse. However, it is not known which areas of the brain mediate the clock genes’ effects on drinking. A brain region known as the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) is already noted for its role in risky drinking; the region forms part of the brain’s ‘reward system’, reinforcing the use of alcohol and other addictive substances by release of dopamine. In the new study, reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, scientists investigated whether clock genes in the NAcSh are involved in regulating
On nights before a full moon, people go to bed later and sleep less, study shows
Sleep cycles in people oscillate during the 29.5-day lunar cycle: In the days leading up to a full moon, people go to sleep later in the evening and sleep for shorter periods of time. Scientists observed these oscillations in urban and rural settings — regardless of an individual’s access to electricity.
MRI Finds Circadian Variations in Men’s and Women’s Renal Blood Flow
Article title: Circadian variation in renal blood flow and kidney function in healthy volunteers monitored with noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging Authors: Per Eckerbom, Peter Hansell, Eleanor Cox, Charlotte Buchanan, Jan Weis, Fredrik Palm, Susan Francis, Per Liss From the authors: “In…
Pinpointing The Cells That Keep The Body’s Master Circadian Clock Ticking
DALLAS – Aug. 7, 2020 – UT Southwestern scientists have developed a genetically engineered mouse and imaging system that lets them visualize fluctuations in the circadian clocks of cell types in mice. The method, described online in the journal Neuron, gives new insight into which brain cells are important in maintaining the body’s master circadian clock. But they say the approach will also be broadly useful for answering questions about the daily rhythms of cells throughout the body.
Understanding The Circadian Clocks of Individual Cells
DALLAS – July 2, 2020 – Two new studies led by UT Southwestern scientists outline how individual cells maintain their internal clocks, driven both through heritable and random means. These findings, published online May 1 in PNAS and May 27 in eLife, help explain how organisms’ circadian clocks maintain flexibility and could offer insights into aging and cancer.
Time of day differences in neural reward responsiveness in children
The Reward Positivity (∆RewP) event-related potential (ERP), generally quantified as the difference between neural responsiveness to monetary gains (RewP-Gain) and losses (RewP-Loss) is commonly used as an index of neural reward responsiveness. Despite the popularity of this ERP component in…