Brain research may lead to jet lag cure
Though jet lag can turn anyone's world upside down, new scientific developments may offer some relief. (Paolo Manalo)
Scientists doing brain research have figured out what causes jet lag.
Jet–lag isn’t just for jet–setters. Truck drivers, nurses or factory workers can experience the same deep fatigue and malaise. It happens because the brain has an internal clock. This circadian clock regulates your sleep and responds to 24–hour cycles of light and dark. When light enters your eyes each morning, a signal to your brain tells your clock to reset.
Recent research has determined that your brain’s master circadian clock is actually twins … but not identical twins. The upper and lower portions have different structures and contain different kinds of cells. Johanna Meijer at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands discovered that the two parts of the brain’s circadian clock respond differently to light cycles. So say, after a flight from New York to London, the lower portion of the clock quickly adapts to its new schedule, but the upper portion is slower to catch up.
And when the two parts get out of sync, what you feel is jet lagged, until the two parts get back in step. Meijer and her colleagues might also have pinpointed a neurotransmitter – a chemical in the brain that might lead to treatments to reset our circadian clock faster.
Our thanks today to NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission.
Our thanks to:
Dr. Johanna Meijer
Dr. Gene Block
University of Virginia
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This reminds me of an explanation for sea-sickness that blames it on the inconsistency between our visual field below decks, and our semi-circular canal sensors.
I’ve read a lot of crap about preventing jet lag. Pills you can buy or certain exercises, yada yada yada. Thank you for letting us hear what Science has to say about this.