Biorhythms: Impact of Early Mornings vs. Late Nights

A person’s biological clock affects their performance and academic success at college. We’ll tell you how to use knowledge about biorhythms and the characteristics of your body to improve your productivity and decrease your stress levels.

What are Biorhythms?

Biorhythms are not mystical concepts like astrology or belief in omens. They are an integral property of all living things. Each organism has its own cycles that help it alternate between phases of activity and recovery. Humans are no exception. Their ability to learn and work faster and more efficiently, make decisions, and feel joy depends on observing biorhythms.

Biological rhythms (biorhythms) are periodic changes in the intensity and nature of biological processes that are themselves maintained and reproduced under any conditions. They affect students’ productivity greatly. For example, if you are more productive in the morning, it will be difficult for you to write your essay in the evening, and vice versa. But, if you forgot about your assignment and remembered it in the evening, there is a way out. You should use paper writing services that offer help at a low cost.

Facts

Biorhythms can vary from an hour and a half to annual. The ones that have the greatest impact on the body’s performance are daily or circadian rhythms. The French natural philosopher Jean-Jacques de Mairan studied them in 1729 when he noticed the daily movement of mimosa leaves. He suggested that the plant has its own mechanism, similar to the sleep-wake cycle in humans.

Since then, circadian rhythms have been carefully researched: scientists have crossed plants, studied the genes that form the daily rhythm, analyzed the behavior of animals, and conducted experiments with people.

In 2017, scientists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the molecular mechanisms that control the circadian rhythm, which once again emphasized the importance of studying biorhythms.

Here are just a few scientific facts about biological rhythms that are important for our topic:

Circadian rhythms are determined by heredity and are transmitted at the genetic level.
Light is the most effective signal for maintaining the balance of daily rhythms. Special cells in the human retina react to light and send a signal directly to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the control center for circadian rhythms in the human body.
Even in the absence of natural light, circadian cycles in the human body are maintained. In an experiment in which people were isolated from natural light and clocks, they developed a 25-hour circadian rhythm.
The use of artificial light increases the circadian rhythm. In that experiment, the transition to a 25-hour daily regime was due to the fact that people could use artificial light at their own discretion. In the adjusted form, the circadian rhythm was 24 hours 11 minutes.

What Happens When Circadian Rhythms are Disrupted?

With frequent changes in time zones and, as a result, daily routines, jet lag may occur—a “misalignment” of circadian rhythms. Jet lag is accompanied by insomnia, apathy, fatigue, and low mood.

Other disorders associated with circadian rhythms include so-called “Sunday night insomnia,” delayed or advanced sleep phase syndrome, and irregular sleep-wake rhythms. Each of these sleep disorders can undermine mental balance and performance.

Impact of Biorhythms

Individual characteristics of circadian biorhythms are called a person’s chronotype. We know of three chronotypes: owls, larks, and pigeons. Scientists distinguish as many as seven chronotypes, but for convenience, they are combined into these three groups.

Early chronotypes—larks—prefer to get up early. They wake up easily and are most active and efficient in the morning, but they quickly get tired by the evening. Drowsiness sets in at 8–10 p.m. They adapt poorly to changes in their daily routines.
Middle chronotype — pigeons — wake up early and start nodding off between 10 and 12 p.m. Their activity peaks between 10 and 12 a.m. and between 4 and 6 p.m., and their efficiency drops at lunchtime.
Late chronotype — owls — go to bed after midnight. They are most active in the evening and at night, and their efficiency is poor in the morning.

Changes in efficiency in different chronotypes are associated with changes in hormone levels—serotonin, melatonin, and cortisol. Thus, the level of melatonin in larks drops in the evening, while in owls, on the contrary, it is at its peak. By knowing their chronotype, students can increase their productivity and decrease their stress levels simultaneously.