Areowl or lark? Does your peak performance moment come when the sun goes down, or are you one of those who are much more efficient first thing in the morning? A new brain imaging study could help explain why some people are more alert in the morning and others do better at night.
According to the Belgian neuropsychologist Philippe Peigneux in a study published today inScience, our ability to stayalertYconcentratesIt is affected both by the amount of time we stay awake and the time of day, due to the rhythms of the internal circadian clock.
But is the response the same in all individuals? Images of the brains of early risers and night owls indicate no. As Peigneux has verified with the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging, lNight owls can stay awake longer than early risers before giving in to mental fatigue. Specifically, after ten hours of wakefulness, early risers show less activity in the brain areas related to attention compared to late-night owls, in addition to feeling more drowsy and performing tasks more slowly, while the abilities of night owls they remain practically intact.
“The ‘owl people’ have advantages at the brain level,” says Peigneux. The downside is that the pace imposed by society does not always allow them to take advantage of them. According to the researcher, many people who are high performers at night are forced to go to school or work very early, against their natural cycle.
Peigneux assures that it is thegeneticsthe one that marks whether we are early risers and extreme night owls (15% of the population), neutral (70%) or moderate early risers and night owls (15%).
