For most people, falling asleep is blissful and for the rest
of us it is an important skill we lack. Night owls tend to stay up late and experience
restless nights. According to research conducted at Rockefeller University,
data shows that being a night owl is more common than you'd
think. Something referred to as the clock gene, or delayed sleep
phase disorder (DSPD), causes a person to have a slight shift in their
sleep-wake circadian rhythm. Even more interesting is the occurrence
for some of these people also have a mutation in the gene CRY1,
found on chromosome twelve. The average disturbance in time shift for the
participants in the study, was about two hours. The researchers conducted that
not every person with this mutation experiences night owl tendencies, but it
played an important influence for those that did. The sluggish, and
delayed feeling as a result of these gene mutations is a new way of studying
manipulation of genes. Researchers on this particular study noted that this can
open doors to understanding gene rhythm in order to create drugs
of manipulation in the future.
I'm interested in if this gene also plays a part in occasional difficulties of sleeping, like someone who will sleep poorly on occasion, or after eating, or if it is simply biological.
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