No matter which category you fall into, you will want to hear Dr. Larry Herz speak about “Circadian and Other Biological Rhythms” at the upcoming First Parish Lyceum on March 6, from 3 to 4 p.m.
It’s free and open to all via Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/97170989460?pwd=dzN0QUxTSG5NUjRTNXFHa1RrRThqQT09
Dr. Herz, a retired psychiatrist long associated with the Bedford VA Hospital, developed his interest in the way human beings respond to light and dark when he attended a Gordon Research Conference on chronobiology.
That’s the branch of biomedical sciences devoted to biological rhythms, including circadian – the rhythms that follow a 24-hour cycle. If you remember your high school Latin, the word circadian is derived from the phrase “circa diem,” meaning “about a day,” referring to biological variations or rhythms with a cycle of approximately 24 hours. Sleeping at night and being awake in the daytime is an example of circadian rhythm.
Disturbances to the circadian rhythm are common in modern life: think of ‘jet lag’ or ‘shift work,’ when the normal patterns of sleep and wakefulness are altered. Sleep-deprived workers are more prone to error and traffic accidents. Even the time of day for taking certain medications is affected by whether it’s morning or night.
In olden days, human activity was governed by the availability of light. In northern climates, winter meant early darkness for many months of the year. Without artificial light, work ended at sunset. Technology has upended those natural patterns. At the National Institutes of Mental Health, there is ongoing research on the effects of disturbance to the “natural” rhythm on behavior in children, teens, and adults. Sleep deprivation in teens is an issue much studied today, with some pressure now exerted on school boards to push back classroom opening hours so that teens, whose body clock tends to keep them up late at night, can get more sleep.
Dr. Herz mentioned the “father” of chronobiology, a German physician named Jurgen Aschoff, whose work spanned much of the 20th century. One of his early investigations involved people living in a kind of underground bunker that he built to study humans in isolation from “time cues.” His work led to an understanding of the problems stemming from shift work, sleep disorders, affective disorders, aging, and jet lag.
As a physician and clinical researcher, Dr. Herz will deepen your understanding of the 24-hour cycles that are part of your body’s internal clock.
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