Do your genes tell you if you're an early riser or a night owl?

  This article discusses a study performed by Dr.John Capra at the University of California. In his study, he looked at the link between Neanderthal DNA and people who like waking up early in the morning. Capra hypothesized that this is because the human population is said to have started in Africa. As migration took place and humans moved farther from the equator they began adapting to the changes in sunlight throughout time. Capra also found that this gene not only affects the time that people wake up but also their appetite and metabolism. Although this experiment doesn’t provide life-changing information for most, the article states that it brings us one step closer to understanding how Neanderthal DNA affects humans today. 

I found this article very interesting because I have never thought about my genes affecting my ability to wake up in the morning. I also noticed that the study was conducted using limited amounts of volunteers from only one part of the world. This could largely affect that data due to the lack of diversity in the study.  This could pose questions such as, do these genes affect some people more than others? And, as mentioned in the article does a person's geographical location affect a person's sleep schedule? I am interested to see what kind of discoveries this experiment leads to.

Are You A Night Owl?

     Many of us have heard the term "night owl," however do genetics contribute to the late night behavior? Staying up late and having trouble waking up is often diagnosed as delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD) according to sleep clinicians. It is estimated to affect about 15% of the population in the United States. People with DSPD have a delayed circadian rhythm, which in your internal clock aligning with the physiology of the environment. People's circadian rhythm have a clear genetic basis that has remained the same over the course of evolutionary history. In cases of people with DSPD, there is a large part of the protein expressed by the gene to be missing. This change makes the inhibitor hyperactive, causing it to repress the activators for too long and extend the circadian cycle by at least a half an hour if not more.
     Fortunately, I am not part of the 15% of night owls. In fact, I am the complete opposite. I have a very hard time staying up late, and find myself fatigued throughout the day. I am a very early riser, having no trouble at all hopping out of bed as soon as my alarm sounds. However, I must do farther research on this topic, as it pertains to my boyfriend. He on the other hand, cannot fall asleep early, and cannot wake up at a decent hour. Now he can make the valid argument that it is not laziness, but genetics causing this behavior!

Night Owls
Internal Clock