After three days, the volunteers were kept awake for one day in a constant routine with a constant level of temperature and light. The night-shift pattern causes the central pacemaker and behavioral rhythms to be at odds. Half had a night-shift sleep pattern for three days and half had a day-shift pattern. Ten men and four women, aged 22 to 34 years, stayed at a research lab for one week. Results were published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on July 10, 2018. The study was funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Van Dongen and Shobhan Gaddameedhi at Washington State University investigated whether disruptions in these rhythms are influenced by the central pacemaker in the brain or reflect behavioral activities, such as working the night shift. An international research team led by Drs.
Previous studies have shown that some metabolites-the products of metabolism-in blood can have daily rhythms. Long-term disruption of circadian rhythms has been linked to obesity, diabetes, and other health problems related to the body’s metabolism. When you stay awake all night or otherwise go against natural light cycles, your health may suffer. Other cycles, such as the behavioral activities of eating and fasting or sleeping and waking, are important for peripheral clocks in the liver, gut, and other tissues. Cycles of light and dark are important for the function of the brain’s master clock. These clocks are synchronized by a central pacemaker in the brain. You wake up, feel hungry, and fall asleep each day around repeating 24-hour “circadian” cycles controlled by your body’s internal clocks. Being awake at night and asleep during the day can disrupt the rhythms of certain metabolic pathways.