Early Bird Vs Night Owl: The Fascinating Science Behind Sleep-Wake Patterns

Yes, there really are "early birds" and "night owls" and no, you can't simply train yourself to do better at a different time of day using nothing but willpower and habit. While night owls may grumble in the morning when they have to get up "way too early" and early birds may prefer their warm nests to late-night events, most people don't really spend a lot of time thinking about what makes their natural clock the way it is. That's a shame, because the science of night owls vs early birds is actually awfully fascinating. What's more, your circadian rhythm says a lot about your personality as well as your mental and physical health.

Your Internal Clock

Your personal internal clock, your circadian rhythm, roughly coincides with a calendar day — it responds to the Earth's light-day cycle. Interestingly enough, this holds true not just for humans but also for animals, plants, and even many microbes! Over the course of a day, your body goes through physical, mental and behavioral changes. When we say a circadian rhythm lasts roughly 24 hours, that last bit is important however: while some people have slightly shorter cycles, others have somewhat longer cycles.

In charge of it all is your very own "biological clock". This is controlled by a center in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN, in the hypothalamus. The SCN in turn directs molecules all over the body, and is in charge of your circadian rhythm, including the hormone melatonin, which gets you ready for sleep. Besides regulating your sleep-wake cycles, the circadian rhythm influences the release of hormones, body temperature and other physical functions. If it isn't working properly, you may end up with sleep disorders like insomnia, but problems with your circadian rhythm have also been linked with diabetes, obesity, depression, and seasonal affective disorder, which makes people feel depressed during winter.

See Also: Sleep Disorders: An Under-Treated Threat

Your internal clock affects your life in very important ways, in other words. Considering the fact that most people don't spend a lot of time thinking about what drives their natural rhythm, that is truly fascinating. The question is, are you a slave to your circadian rhythm or is there anything you can do to alter it?

Can Your Circadian Rhythm Change With Time?

Yes, your circadian rhythm can indeed change with time, and it usually does a bit. While many young kids are naturally early risers (as anyone with toddlers who wake them at 6 am knows!), teens are renowned for their tendency to sleep in, or over-sleep. They also stay up later, obviously, while small children turn in early. Many people find that their sleeping patterns gradually drive them to go to bed earlier and rise earlier as they wonder out of adolescence into adulthood and middle age.

Night Owls Vs Morning People: How Your Sleep Patterns Shape You

Yes, This Stuff Influences Your Personality!

Your natural rhythm does, believe it or not, come with its own pros and cons. Night owls have a higher tendency towards depression, but researchers have also found that these people are able to stay focused for longer, while early birds become mentally exhausted earlier in the day. Morning people, meanwhile, tend to be more flexible people in general. They do have more regular sleep patterns and enjoy more restful sleep than night owls. Incredibly, research shows that morning people feel healthier overall than night owls!

There is more. Night owls:

• Tend to be more creative
• Are more willing to take risks
• Tend to have better cognitive abilities

Meanwhile, early birds:

• Are more proactive and optimistic
• Are less prone to addiction

What do you say to that? It's certainly accurate for me. This stuff is much more fascinating than astrology, I say.

Is There A 'Reset Button'?

Researchers from Vanderbilt University found that there may indeed be a way to radically alter the internal biological clock. They managed to stimulate the brains of mice, which have a very similar biological clock as humans except they're night-active so it's pretty much reversed, to change their natural sleep-wake cycle. They did that by either suppressing or stimulating neurons in the aforementioned SCN.

While nothing like this is coming to a pharmacy near you any time soon, medication to better treat circadian-rhythm related disorders like seasonal affective disorder, jet lag, and the negative results of shift work may be developed at some point in the future as a result of these findings. Meanwhile, however, you'll have to make do with what you've got.

Making The Most Of Your Natural Rhythm 

Morning people can make the most of their day by doing their most cognitively-challenging tasks early on, and saving mundane, mechanical jobs for later in the day. Short siestas may benefit morning people if they have to be mentally awake later in the day. If you're a morning person, you're in luck. The world seems to be set up for you, most of the time — and you'll also have the optimism to enjoy that fact.

See Also: Night Shifts, Circadian Rhythm And Our Health

Night owls, meanwhile, seem to get the rough end of the deal. Most of the world is productive in the morning. Not everyone is lucky enough to have access to flexible working hours! If you're a night owl, you'll benefit by making practical and mental preparations for tasks you have to engage in the next morning before you go to sleep. That way, you won't have to do all that hard thinking work in the morning. Also have a well-prepared breakfast routine, and drink all the coffee you need to get going. You may also consider taking the radical step of looking for night-shift work, which is rather damaging for most people but may work well for you.