The biological clock plays an important role: it tells our body when it can be active and when it is time to shift down a gear. It influences our bodily functions – blood pressure, body temperature, hormone balance.
The control center is a nucleus in our brain – no bigger than a grain of rice. It is located at the level of the bridge of the nose above the junction (chiasm) of the visual pathways, from which its name is derived: suprachiasmatic nucleus, more simply: SCN. It is controlled by brain function and hormones, and responds primarily to differences in light transmitted to it by special cells in the retina.
Out of sync
What used to be quite easy to manage is nowadays a constant challenge for our inner clock: whether night or shift work, disco evenings, long-distance flights or time changes in spring and autumn – the days are getting longer due to artificial light, the rhythms of life no longer correspond to the times of light and dark or change again and again at short notice.
Temporarily our organism can compensate for this, but in the long run this hard work leads to physical and mental disorders. If the individual daily rhythm is constantly ignored, it can lead to sleep disturbances, loss of performance and moods up to depression, also the risk for physical diseases increases.
Chronotypes: Of larks and owls
Another aspect is that there are different types of time (chronotypes): The “larks” (early risers) and the “owls” (morning grouches). They have different sleeping and waking times and differ in the duration of sleep. If they constantly live contrary to their individual rhythms – for example, due to rigid working hours in school and professional life – the risk of problems also increases.
Chronobiology
Sleep researchers and time biologists have increasingly been on the trail of these connections in recent years. Chronobiology, as an interdisciplinary science, explores how biorhythms and internal and external (environmental) factors are interrelated and what effects our lifestyle has on health. The more findings chronobiology gains, the louder the voices become to make our everyday rhythms in schools, business, employment and leisure time so flexible that we do not have to disregard our inner clock.
