How Daylight Savings Time Disrupts Your Body's Clock

By: Skye Taylor

When the clocks spring forward every March, most people complain about feeling tired, but research says the effects go deeper than simply just losing an hour of sleep. 

When the shift in daylight savings time occurs, it disrupts what is known as the body's circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is the body's internal clock that regulates our sleep and energy levels.

Even a one-hour change can throw our internal clocks out of order which explains why many people experience fatigue, changes in mood and in some cases serious health conditions such as heart attacks. 

Kelly Sullivan, an Associate Professor in Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences at Georgia Southern explains why daylight savings time affects our circadian rhythm in big ways.

“Your circadian rhythm is basically how your body’s physical, mental and behavioral changes follow the 24-hour natural cycle of light and dark.” said Sullivan.

Sunlight is a crucial step in regulating this cycle. 

Sullivan explained that when our eyes detect morning sunlight, signals are then sent to the brain to stop producing melatonin, the hormone responsible for sleep, and increase cortisol to help the body wake up.

So when daylight savings time shifts the clock forward and we lose that extra sunlight in the morning, our body's cycle becomes wonky. 

“It’s kind of like a social jet lag,” Sullivan said. “Our internal biological clocks are now conflicting with what the sun and the earth are doing.”

The disruption can make it difficult for the body to adjust.

The spring time change, when clocks move forward, causes the most problems because people lose an hour of sleep.

Sullivan explained that researchers have found a noticeable spike in heart-related problems immediately after the time change.

“There’s actually about a 24% increase in heart attacks on the Monday after the springtime change.” Sullivan said.

On top of the heart attacks, Sullivan said safety behind the wheel can be affected. 

“Studies have documented increases in fatal car crashes and workplace injuries in the days following the time change, which is due to fatigue and slower reaction times.” Sullivan said. 

Sullivan added that sleep disruption also influences metabolism because hunger hormones are closely tied to sleep cycles. 

When circadian rhythms are disrupted, people tend to crave more sugary foods and processed carbohydrates, which over time can lead to the risk of metabolic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the body’s internal clock regulates hormones, digestion, body temperature and energy levels throughout a 24-hour cycle.

The brain coordinates this process through a group of cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which is located in the hypothalamus. These cells respond to light signals and help synchronize biological functions across the body.

Mental health may also be influenced by changing daylight patterns.

Lindsey Stone, Associate Professor in Psychology and an expert on psychophysiological correlates of mental health, explained how daylight savings time affects our overall mental well-being. 

“The seasonal changes in daylight, especially during the darker winter months, can contribute to seasonal affective disorder, a form of depression linked to reduced sunlight.” Stone said. 

This is linked with what is commonly known as “seasonal depression.”

That sudden shift in daylight saving time might worsen these feelings for some people.

Although not everyone experiences major symptoms and side effects, certain groups may be more at risk to time changes.

Teenagers and young adults tend to struggle the most because their circadian rhythms naturally shift later during adolescence.

“Our brain is naturally shifting into a later circadian rhythm during adolescence,” Sullivan said. “So when the clocks change, kids are going to school at a time when their brain still thinks they should be asleep, which leads you to the academic setbacks.” 

The elderly are also considered to be at high risk of more sensitivity to sleep disruptions because of unknown health conditions or changes in sleep patterns that appear over time with age. 

Another group affected are the people who already work irregular schedules, such

as night shift workers. 

The World Health Organization has even identified long-term night shift work as a carcinogen because of its impact on sleep cycles.

For some people, the effects of daylight saving time show up everyday. 

Alyssa Hayleigh, a senior nursing student, said the time change can make already demanding clinical schedules even harder.

Nursing students often wake up before sunrise for early hospital shifts and spend endless hours indoors.

“When you wake up at three or four in the morning and it’s still dark outside, it’s really hard to feel awake,” Hayleigh said. “Then you’re inside all day during a 12-hour shift and don’t see much sunlight.”

Sleep experts say there are simple steps you can take to help adjust to the time change, one of those being getting sunlight soon after waking up. 

“Morning sunlight is what really sets our body’s clock.” Sullivan said.

From a public health perspective, Sullivan said maintaining a consistent schedule that aligns with natural sunlight would significantly benefit our overall health.

But, for now, the clock continues to change twice a year.

The Caffeine and College Student Connection

By: Tristin Harrell 

“My heart is a muscle, I have to train it to failure,” said Georgia Southern student, Connor Sherrill.

Sherrill began consuming caffeine, specifically energy drinks in high school. His usage is anything short of uncommon. Caffeine is consumed by 69% of Americans according to the National Institute of Health.

In terms of Sherrill’s instances to “train his heart,” caffeine impacts more than just the vital organ.

“Caffeine affects brain chemicals, adenosine in particular, that play a role in various bodily functions,” said Dr. Laura Juliano via email communication. “It also affects dopamine; a brain chemical linked to reward and motivation.”

Juliano is the Behavioral Pharmacology and Health Promotion Laboratory Director at American University. With a special interest in caffeine dependance, Juliano cautioning college students to be more mindful of caffeine consumption.

“Coffee is a time when people are forming new habits, and the brain is still very impressionable,” said Juliano. “It could be argued that students may be more vulnerable to forming dependence, especially because caffeine use becomes tied to routines like studying, socializing, and coping with stress and poor sleep.”

As a multi-sport athlete and student, Sherrill said the caffeine was the boost he needed to get through the classes and practices.

“I would mix a scoop and a half of pre-workout with my energy drink before working out,” said Sherrill.

Sherrill estimated that he regularly consumed about a gram of caffeine a day when he followed this routine.

Juliano believes that the usage of caffeine among Generation Z is strongly linked to their consumption habits of energy drinks and speciality coffees, which are harder to predicate caffeine content.

EmmaLaine Sisk, a junior at Georgia Southern University, consumes both.

“Coffee kind of just helps wake me up slowly,” said Sisk. “Energy drinks give me that boost of energy.”

Averaging autumn’s 300 milligrams of caffeine per day, Sisk believes her consumption is tied to a habit she formed in high school.

“It’s just kind of a ritual that I have every morning, get up, have coffee,” said Sisk. “I have for five years now. That’s something I don’t stay away from.”

Sisk is more selective with her energy drink consumption, though. Her favorite energy drink, Alani Nu, contains over 200 milligrams of caffeine. Sisk now tries to limit her usage to only weekdays. It was not always like this. Sisk developed an “Aulani Cart,” which is a three-tiered rolling cart that currently holds six different flavors of the energy drink. With a total of 96 cans at her disposal, Sisk stay vigilant to make sure she is maintaining a fairly healthy lifestyle by drinking at least 80oz of water daily.

Retired physician assistant cardiologist, Rallie “Rooster” Cogburn doubts that one can maintain both a healthy lifestyle and consume excess amounts of caffeine.

“I don’t think people get addicted to caffeine,” said Rooster. “I think people get addicted to the effects of caffeine.”

As a physician assistant, Rooster saw firsthand the effects caffeine had on the body.

“They can experience within issues, that being, feeling like your heart is skipping a beat, extra heartbeats, and a faster rate tactycardia,” said Rooster.

Long term, these effects are intertwined with high blood pressure and heart palpitations.

Rooster suggests college students skip out on the caffeine. Rooster believes that students should ask themselves why they’re actually consuming the caffeine.

“If your reason for drinking it is to stay awaken, you’re defeating a healthy lifestyle, period,” said Rooster. “The key to staying awake is getting enough sleep.”

Sherrill and Sisk are average college students. Energy drink vending machines line university buildings. Starbucks liter college campuses. It’s hard to avoid caffeine. It’s unrealistic to believe college students will stop consuming caffeine entirely. Instead, experts are urging students to look beyond the flashy cans and mouthwatering flavors.

“Energy drinks are heavily marketed to young adults and often contain high caffeine levels plus added stimulants,” said Juliano.

Juliano acknowledged that the energy drink industry’s lack of regulatory limits has led to an increased risk in overuse and caffeine toxicity.

“It is important to remember that caffeine is a drug,” said Juliano. With any drug comes side effects and withdrawal symptoms. Some side effects common in college students is increased anxiety, jitteriness, and sleep disruption.

Sherrill knows about the withdrawal symptoms. Though he believes he had it easy with mild headaches, other students report more serve symptoms. From nausea to muscle aches, Juliano warns that these symptoms can last for over a week once students stop consuming caffeine.

These withdraws symptoms and discomfort often lead to students relapsing in a way. The reinforcement that comes when consuming caffeine (more energy, fun flavors, etc.) hinders one’s ability to cut it out entirely.

Students are out of luck completely. There are several ways to lead a healthier lifestyle, with minimal caffeine usage. Checking nutrition labels are crucial for maintaining a balance with caffeine consumption and water intake. Similarly to caffeine, exercise releases dopamine, leading to a mood boost. Ensure you’re consuming all the needed vitamins and nutrients. And of course, get enough sleep.

 

 

 

The Value Within A Choice

By: Kennon Paulk

Choices are made by humans every single day. What outfit to wear each day, what movie to watch as you relax from the job you chose to have and of course the choice to continue to read this article.  

However, one of the best examples of getting a closer look into how choices are made by our brains would be the bracket challenge of March Madness. The bracket challenge is where anyone can submit their predictions on how the basketball tournament will unfold. 

Michael Hill, a student at Auburn university, has been trying his hand at the perfect bracket since 2019. Hill has been a fan of college basketball for some time now starting his fandom in the year prior to his first bracket.  

“Seeing Loyola Chicago go on their deep run and then that was also Auburn’s first time back in the tournament for a while, so seeing them get a win was exciting and got me into it,” Hill said.  

The odds of creating a perfect bracket is a 1 in 9.2 quintillion chance when picked at random and with informed picks the chance still stands at a whopping 1 in 128 billion chance to create the perfect bracket.  

While those odds may seem a bit out of reach, Hill has some superstitions that make him feel like every year could be his year to go perfect.  

“I always take at least one 12 seed, like this year I had High Point winning,” Hill said. “There’s a thing I saw a couple years ago and it’s been working and I’ve used it pretty much ever since but there’s this line that if a team is west of Texas they can’t win the national championship so I never take a team that’s west of Texas.” 

Hill’s thinking isn’t out of the ordinary, according to modern psychology. Ty Boyer, who is a Georgia Southern psychology professor, says that this kind of thinking flows with the current understanding of human choice. 

“Modern decision theory has kind of developed way beyond expected values and there are many reasons and many phenomena that have been demonstrated to show we don’t just operate on pure, rational, expected value estimation,” Boyer said. “It’s called confirmation bias, it’s where we see something that is expected and is consistent with what we expected and we chalk it up as demonstrating our own brilliance.”   

Essentially, every time someone makes a choice in life, they feel that their choice is the “right” choice and as time passes, that choice slowly reveals itself as a good or not so good choice.  

Whatever ends up happening, a person will either claim to have known that outcome was going to happen or they will say that the choice was somewhat rigged to begin with if it didn’t go as they had planned.  

To avoid being wrong however, we do create these patterns that give us confidence in the choices we make. Boyer explains that this is called apophenia.  

“It is literally defined as the detection of patterns that aren’t actually there,” Boyer said. “I suspect that we make use of heuristics and our biases in our decision making strategies, they guide the choices that we make.” 

So as much as it feels like every year a nine seed beats an eight seed, when in reality these are just patterns we feel have become statistical truths.  

With these biases, we then transfer value into our choices. That then makes the choice even easier for us to make.  

This is the understanding of choice that Jonathan Friedel holds, Friedel is also an associate professor at Georgia Southern in the Department of Psychology. 

“The best explanation we have for choice is about how people make value and how they see the value in the things that they are faced with and then choose the thing that they think has the most value, at the time they’re making their choice,” Friedel said. “So, it looks great now, however it might not look great a week from now, but when you made your choice this was the best thing you had in front of you.”  

It can be easy to see value in things like stats and superstitions that play into those decisions, but even then, there are other value factors that come into play when choosing a bracket. 

“I did my undergraduate at the University of Florida, so if you ask me to fill out a bracket blind with me not knowing anything about the teams, I’m going to rate Florida really high with FSU and Alabama being really low because I hate Alabama,” Friedel said. 

People are always going to try and assign value to the choice they make no matter what the situation is, we look for the option with the best value in relation to ourselves, according to Friedel.  

So as much as creating a perfect bracket and winning a huge sum of money sounds great, really the choices made in a bracket will eventually come down to confirmation bias and where one places value.   

Hill may never pick a team that resides west of Texas, but that doesn’t mean it’s a set fact, it just means Hill places no value in those schools west of Texas. I would also imagine Auburn places pretty high for him when they do make the bracket as well.