"Daylight, absorbed through the eyes in the early morning, activates a pair of pea-sized clusters of cells deep in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN. The SCN's tiny dimensions belie its importance as the body's primary alarm clock. It sends rhythmic signals to millions of other timekeepers—called peripheral clocks—located in almost every cell with a nucleus in the body."
"Karyn Esser, a physiologist at the University of Florida, and her colleagues have found that exercise in the early hours is a powerful cue for the body's peripheral clocks in oxygen-sensing organs such as the muscles. And other researchers have made similar findings in studies related to the lungs and kidneys."
"Healthy circadian rhythms require coordination of clock systems across the body. Because light and exercise influence circadian rhythms separately through the SCN and peripheral clocks, respectively, scientists think that combining these two behaviors in the morning may stabilize the body's entire timekeeping system."
Daylight saving time causes hospital admissions to increase and sleep disruption lasting a week or longer. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a brain region acting as the body's master clock, regulates circadian rhythms by responding to morning light and coordinating peripheral clocks throughout the body. Recent research reveals that exercise, particularly in early morning hours, powerfully influences peripheral clocks in oxygen-sensing organs like muscles, lungs, and kidneys. Light and exercise operate through separate mechanisms to influence circadian rhythms. Combining morning light exposure with early exercise provides complementary signals that stabilize the body's entire clock system, easing the transition during time changes and potentially reducing associated health complications.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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