"Internal clocks can run 24.1 hours or 23.9 hours," she says. Sharkey notes two additional influences on our circadian rhythms: our response to artificial dark/light cycles and an internal body clock that does not run exactly 24 hours like watches and clocks. Night owls tend to peak in their teens and 20s, she explains, and then become more larklike once they are working and raising families. Women were more likely than men to say they were morning larks (48 percent to 40 percent).īut if our predisposition toward getting up early versus staying up late is genetic, why do so many older adults consider themselves morning folks? Can we change our body clock as we grow older? To some extent, says Katherine Sharkey, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Brown University. That's more than twice as many as those under 30, only 24 percent of whom called themselves early risers. Sixty-three percent of those over age 60 called themselves morning larks. The research noted that age made a "huge difference" in how respondents identified themselves, says Hinds. The report, published in Nature Communications in February 2016, also found that seven of these genes were near genes that governed circadian rhythms, or our internal body clocks. They identified 15 genetic markers linked to a predisposition toward being either an early bird or a night owl. "We were looking for contrasts between the two groups," says David Hinds, the company's principal scientist in statistical genetics. Research scientists at 23andMe, a California-based consumer genetic testing company, asked about 90,000 clients who had provided genetic material (saliva samples) to fill out an online questionnaire about their sleep behavior and whether they identified themselves as a morning or evening person. And new research provides a clearer picture of how genes set our biological clocks at birth. It’s also possible that people with depression have more irregular sleep schedules, which would need to be explored in future research.Most of us fall somewhere between these two extremes, but our tendency toward one or the other can still affect our relationships, health and jobs. “Circadian misalignment could also lead to inadequate sleep duration and quality, which could also impair mood and exacerbate mood disorders,” Knutson said.Īnd finally there’s the chicken and egg problem, which often plagues research that can only show an association, not causation. Want some tips for better sleep? SIGN UP FOR CNN’s SLEEP, BUT BETTER newsletter Indeed bright light therapy is a treatment for some forms of depression,” she explained. “Light exposure is greater among morning types and may be reduced in those with greater sleep variability. Other possible reasons include more exposure to sunlight for those who rise early, Knutson said. ![]() It’s a term borrowed from the jet lag we experience when we travel between time zones, only social jet lag is the “consequence of the discrepancy between an individual’s own biological rhythm and the daily timing determined by social constraints,” Tyrrell explained. “Social jet lag” occurs when we go to bed later and wake up later at the weekend than we do on weekdays when we have to get up for work. This may in part be due to people who are morning people are less likely to have ‘social jet lag,’ ” Tyrrell explained. “if you’re a morning person, then you are less likely to have depression and more likely to report a higher well-being. “The health problems associated with being a night owl are likely a result of being a night owl living in a morning person’s world, which leads to disruption in their body’s circadian rhythms,” said sleep specialist Kristen Knutson, an associate professor of neurology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.Ĩ ways to fall back asleep after waking in the night Researchers compared that sleep information to self-reports of mood and found that people with a misaligned sleep cycle more likely to report depression, anxiety and have fewer feelings of well-being. The study used sleep data gathered from wrist activity monitors worn by more than 85,000 participants of the UK Biobank Study, which houses in-depth genetic and health information on more than a half a million Brits. Sleep hygiene: 8 ways to train your brain for better sleepīut it’s a bummer if you’re a night owl, primed to perform better in the afternoon and evening and stay up late, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. ![]() There are ways to train your brain for better sleep.
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