Of course, most people try to adjust to the new time zone without controlling their exposure to light and dark. These people often end up jet lagged for longer than necessary. They can also experience antidromic re-entrainment, when the circadian rhythms shift in the opposite direction. For example, incidental light exposure can cause people to phase delay rather than phase advance, making jet lag worse. Besides gastrointestinal disturbances and reduced alertness, frequent jet lag is associated with cancer and digestive diseases in humans, and increases mortality in mice.

Given this knowledge of circadian rhythms, one can — as one article title claimed — “trick Mother Nature” into letting you fly around the world without jet lag. And you won’t even need a flashlight behind your knee.

Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science, or psychology? And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about? Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist at the Boston Globe. He can be reached at garethideas AT gmail.com or Twitter @garethideas.

1 Comments

1. 1. vigvamvoo 07:41 AM 1/2/13

   Now thats what I am talking about dude. Very cool indeed.
   
   www.DareAnon.tk

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