MagicPeacockSpider t1_j2e0upx wrote
Reply to comment by Gnonthgol in eli5 Circadian Rhythym. how do people that don't know what time it is when they fall asleep still wake up at the same time every day? by Master_Vannaka
A minor correction to your comment.
Left alone the cycle repeats roughly every 25 hours for the average person. In a cave that would be the default sleep pattern. Not 24 hours.
The rest of what you say is pretty spot on but it's important to realise we have a clock that needs active sync, not a 24 hour clock that can look after itself.
A number of factors like blue light hitting your retina, body temperature, when you eat and when you exercise can effect this.
But light is the most powerful cue. The circadian clock in everyone is essentially one that runs at a slow rhythm. But light inhibits melatonin production and darkness accelerates it.
As well as melatonin there's cortisol triggered to wake you up. There's seratonin released in response to light when you're meant to be awake.
This is a concern as we moved away from incandescent lighting as the wavelength of light we're meant to see when the sun is out is more prevalent at home, from screens, in street and car lighting. Etc
Messing with light can get our melatonin, cortizol, and seratonin out of sync with each other. Leading to poor sleep and all the other effects from that.
For good sleep get a good light cycle, then clean air, then temperature, then noise right. So many people think of those in reverse.
Gnonthgol t1_j2e4f1j wrote
I think I touched on most of this but thanks for going more in depth on it.
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