Light governs our 145;sleeping patterns146;: Study

A new study has found that it8217;s light which governs the sleeping patterns of people.

If you think that biological clock only reminds us to shut eye every 24 hours, you are wrong. A new study has found that it8217;s actually light which governs the sleeping patterns of people.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have carried out the study and discovered that the eye uses light to reset the biological clock through a mechanism which is separate from the ability to see.

According to lead researcher Samer Hattar, the study8217;s findings indicate that patients with trouble sleeping or seasonal depression can benefit from development of easier, more available tests to determine if they are able to detect light properly for functions distinct from normal sight.

8220;It seems that even if individuals have normal sight, they might be having a malfunction that is contributing to their inability to detect light, which can adversely affect their biological clocks,8221; Hattar said.

In their study, the researchers genetically modified laboratory mice so that a particular set of retinal ganglion cells 8212; that receive input from rods and cones of animals8217; eyes and send information to brain 8212; no longer functioned.

The mice were still able to use light to see normally, but had great difficulty synchronising their circadian rhythms to light or dark cycles that occurs depending on the time of the year.

Previous research in the field leads the researchers to believe that because the rodents8217; internal, biological clocks are out of sync with the solar day, the animals would have difficulty learning and sleeping on a regular, 24-hour cycle. The team has not yet tested that hypothesis.

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8220;This research illustrates that there are two distinct pathways for the two different aspects of light detection 8212; image-forming and non-image-forming.

8220;Our tips are simple: Get out in the sun for at least a little while each day. There8217;s a reason why we seek the sun and the beach and we feel better when we can sit in the sun and bask.

8220;Also, avoid very bright lights during the night, as exposure to them can cause a malfunction in your biological clock,8221; the 8216;scienceDaily8217; quoted Hattar as saying.

The results of the study have been published in the online edition of the 8216;Nature8217; journal.