Sunday, November 6, 2011

Fall Back, Surviving Daylight Savings Time

by Kris Pitcher

I've lived in and visited places who "don't do" daylight savings time. This energy savings initiative began during WWI as the government looked for ways to help us turn the lights off.

Now each fall and spring we either fall back or spring forward. I never like having something taken away...but I do like having that hour returned for extra slumber, if even for just one night.

The truth is this "system" really affects us, it effects our circadian rhythms. It's no wonder people are a little grumbly and off for a day or so while they are trying to get on track. Our circadian rhythms are responses, changes, to light and darkness which follow a 24 hour cycle.

They are connected to our biological clocks. Nerve cells in the brain called suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN are considered our "master clock" and this is located in the hypothalamus (a word I've always liked).

Light is one of the main environmental factors  influencing our circadian rhythms which can change our sleep-wake patterns, our hormone release and body temperature among other things. For instance as it gets dark, our SCN releases melatonin signaling us to get drowsy.

So, it's not just you being grumbly and not wanting to get with the program of daylight savings time. You system is a little out of whack. But given a few days and a consistent wake-sleep pattern, your clock will reset too. And while it will soon be dark at 3:30 PM, we will eventually get used to shorter days.

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