Stress hormone controls your body clock 24/7

Stress hormone, and not neurons, manage the fixed circadian rhythm that controls everything from sleep needs to body temperature, the researchers have found.

Our internal clock is controlled by some very distinct hereditary genes, known as clock genes. These genes are particularly active in the so-called suprachiasmatic nucleus area of the brain.

However, these areas of the brain are not directly linked by neurons, and this made researchers at the University of Copenhagen curious.

Using lab tests, the team demonstrated that the circadian rhythm is controlled by the stress hormone, corticosterone.

"In humans, the hormone is known as cortisol, and although the sleep rhythm in rats is the opposite of ours, we basically have the same hormonal system," said Associate Professor.

In the study with the stress hormone corticosterone, the researchers removed the suprachiasmatic nucleus in a number of rats.

As expected, this removed the circadian rhythm of the animals.

However, the circadian rhythm of the cerebellum was restored when the rats were subsequently implanted with a special programmable micropump.

In this case, however, the researchers used the pump to emit doses of corticosterone at different times of the day and night, similar to the animals' natural rhythm.

"Nobody has used these pumps for anything like this before. So technically, we were onto something completely new," said the Asst. Prof.

With the artificial corticosterone supplement, researchers were again able to read a rhythmic activity of clock genes in the animals.

"This is interesting from a scientific point of view, because it means that we have two systems - the nervous system and the hormonal system - that communicate perfectly and influence one another, all in the course of a reasonably tight 24-hour programme," he elaborated.

The researchers now plans to study other rhythmic hormones in a similar manner, including hormones from the thyroid gland.

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Weight loss: Chrono-nutrition is effective for shedding kilos

Weight loss trends have always been interesting and it’s phenomenal knowing that there are so many aspects to them. A lot of experts have often focused on what you should eat, and how much you should eat. But an essential part of diet plans and charts has been the element of time too. It’s important to know, for instance, that citric fruits should ideally not be consumed at night. Chrono-nutrition is all about fixing time for what you eat, to get the maximum benefits from your diet.


Our body gets accustomed to different clocks that act like rhythms or patterns. For instance, circadian rhythm is all about going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day. Your body gets adjusted to these timings and becomes a habit. Similarly, chrono-nutrition, is a technique developed by  a French nutritionist and professor. However, the practice of following schedules for meals has its origins in Ayurveda (ancient Indian system of medicine), as well as traditional Chinese medicine. The fundamental idea is similar- eating at specific times of the day is important for maintaining good health. And this turns into a pattern that needs to be abide by.

Our body has a master-clock which is known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which takes notice of and manages changes in our body due to changes in behaviour or external environment. It keeps a tab on our heart, liver, and stomach clocks apart from others. Traditionally, your breakfast should be packed with energy, and as the day proceeds, you must move to lighter meals.

Disturbing this regime might not be a good idea. For instance, eating heavily at night, especially fried foods, can cause acidity and weight gain. On the other hand, skipping your breakfast might result in more binging throughout the day, with a rise in blood sugar levels.

There are three important meals once should focus on- breakfast, lunch and dinner. The ideal interval should be about 4 hours, except between dinner and breakfast (12 hours) since the body needs time to break down stored fats.

So, followed diligently, chrono-nutrition can help in managing weight, lowering cholesterol, reducing the risk of developing diabetes, and in better immunity. Make sure you consult a dietician or nutritionist before setting a meal pattern.

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Indian origin scientists discover gene related to sleep patterns

SCIENTISTS have discovered a gene that is responsible for your sleep patterns. So if you find your sleep cycle disrupted after a jet lag or a graveyard shift at work, it's because Lhx1, the body's timekeeper of sorts, is doing its job.

According to the scientists, both of Indian origin, the discovery of the gene is relevant for modern society where our sleep-wake cycles are disrupted by the schedules we choose to keep. They say the discovery can help in finding treatments for sleep problems, enabling shift-workers or jet-lagged travelers to adjust to time differences.

“We found a gene called Lhx1 that controls how individual clock neurons talk to each other. Such cross-talk helps consolidate activity and sleep to the right time of the day and prevents the sleep time from wandering when the light or dark cycle changes. The study shows that weakening the cross-talk among clock cells can be an effective method to change sleep- or activity-time, which is particularly useful for people who work between day and night shifts, so that they can adjust their sleep-time easily when their work-shift changes. Nearly 10-15 per cent of the workforce in most countries are shift-workers. When they change from night to day shift or when they try to be 'day active' during the weekend, it is very difficult for them to readjust their sleep time. Consequently, they get less sleep, have reduced productivity and, in the long run, are predisposed to many chronic diseases. Finding a treatment to readjust sleeping time will hugely benefit them," said Dr Satchidananda Panda, associate professor at the Salk Institute, in an email interview.

Dr Shubhroz Gill, researcher at Salk Institute and co-first author of the paper, which has been published in the journal eLife, further explained that humans have internal biological clocks that generate 24-hour rhythms for sleep, waking hours and to maintain body temperature, among other things.

“The internal clock is useful only when it is in sync with the external clock, that is the day or night cycle. When a person travels from one time-zone to another, say, from San Diego to Mumbai, as soon as he or she lands in Mumbai, the internal clock is still running on San Diego time and is thus not very useful. As a result, it is realigned to Mumbai time, a process that takes a few days. In the meantime, the person undergoes the well-known adverse effects...namely, jet lag. We found that Lhx1 was involved in keeping the internal clock, a region of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) ticking normally when the person was in San Diego, and played a role in allowing the internal clock to resynchronise to Mumbai time. Lhx1 plays a critical role in the rhythm generation ability of the SCN," he said.

The scientists disrupted the light-dark cycles in mice and compared changes in the expressions of thousands of genes in the SCN with other mouse tissues. In the end, they identified 213 gene expression changes that were unique to SCN. They then further narrowed these down to 13. Of these, only one was suppressed in response to light, the Lhx1.

The team has been working on this paper for six years and the research involved multiple methods, including genomics, genetics, electrophysiology, gene cloning, animal behavior and transgenic animals.

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