Ah yes, it’s that time of year when we mess with our suprachiasmatic nucleus.  I’m sorry, our WHAT?!  You know!  Our suprachiasmatic nucleus!  It’s called SCN for short, and it’s the region of our brain that’s basically in charge of keeping time. In other words, it’s our biological clock!  It’s a very real thing, and in spring and fall we alter it when we change the external  clocks (you know, the one on your phone and microwave) in our lives.  We’ve all heard conflicting reports about increases in things like heart attacks, stroke, and car accidents after springing forward and falling back, but one thing is certain:  the clock change really does affect the way we sleep.  AZCentral has some surprising details about the harm one little hour can have on our SCN, and the best ways (an alarms clock that mimics sunlight?!) to mitigate it!

photo credit:  Danial Mesbahi on Unsplash

Filed under: changing the clocks, clock change, daylight savings, daylight savings time, fall back