Jet lag is something many of us have experienced. Imagine it’s 11:00 a.m., a reasonable time to start your day, but you’ve already been awake since 4:30 a.m. because your internal clock is out of sync with the local time. This misalignment, known as jet lag, can leave you feeling tired and irritable. It can also affect your ability to learn and remember things. Fortunately, there are strategies to help you overcome jet lag more quickly.
Recent research suggests that jet lag can be tackled like a math problem by managing your exposure to light and darkness. This approach is linked to circadian rhythms, which are natural, roughly 24-hour cycles that dictate when you feel sleepy or alert.
Olivia Welch, a graduate student in applied mathematics at the University of Michigan, devised a method to help your circadian rhythm adjust to new time zones efficiently. She likens our bodies to systems that can be optimized, much like robots.
Your circadian clock has a specific time each day when your body temperature is at its lowest and your alertness is at its highest. Traveling to a different time zone shifts this timing, causing jet lag. You can accelerate your adjustment by strategically timing your light exposure. Your eyes detect light and relay this information to your brain’s internal clock.
To reset your body clock, you should experience one period of bright light and one period of dim darkness daily. For instance, if you travel from New York to London, on the first day, you should start your light exposure at 7:58 a.m. and begin darkness at 8:14 p.m. On the second day, expose yourself to light at 6:18 a.m. and avoid light at 7:53 p.m., continuing this pattern as needed.
Luckily, you don’t need to calculate these schedules manually—there’s an app for that! This app, currently available for Apple devices with an Android version in development, provides personalized light and dark schedules to help adjust your body clock to a new time zone. By using the app, you can also contribute to scientific research by sharing your data with Olivia to enhance the app and her studies.
This research represents a large-scale circadian study that hasn’t been attempted before. After following the light exposure schedule, I found that I adjusted from Los Angeles to Sydney in about four days. If you’ve tried the app, share your thoughts in the comments, or let us know if you have other tips for beating jet lag. Don’t forget to subscribe to BrainCraft for more insights on sleep and other fascinating topics!
Imagine you are traveling from New York to Tokyo. Create a detailed schedule for your light and darkness exposure based on the principles discussed in the article. Share your schedule with classmates and discuss the reasoning behind your timing choices.
Work in groups to develop a simple mathematical model that represents the adjustment of circadian rhythms when traveling across time zones. Present your model to the class and explain how it can be used to minimize jet lag.
Design a concept for an app that could help travelers manage jet lag. Consider features that would enhance user experience and contribute to scientific research. Present your app concept to the class and discuss its potential impact.
Analyze a case study of a frequent traveler who successfully minimized jet lag using light exposure strategies. Identify key factors that contributed to their success and discuss how these strategies can be applied to different travel scenarios.
Join a research project that collects data on circadian rhythms and jet lag. Use the app mentioned in the article to track your own light exposure and adjustment process during a trip. Share your findings with the class and discuss the implications for future research.
I’m sure you’ve all experienced jet lag before. Right now, it’s 11:00 a.m., a good time to get out of bed, but I’ve been up for six and a half hours already since 4:30. I’m jet lagged, tired, cranky, and my internal body clock is totally out of sync with my new time zone. Studies have shown that people experiencing jet lag have trouble learning and recalling memories. However, there are some life hacks to get over jet lag quickly.
A recent study suggests that jet lag can be viewed as a math problem that you can solve by controlling your exposure to light and darkness. This concept relates to circadian rhythms, which are the roughly 24-hour biological rhythms that influence when you sleep and wake up.
Olivia Welch, a graduate student in applied math at the University of Michigan, developed a schedule for light and darkness exposure that helps your circadian rhythm adjust to new time zones as quickly as possible. She approached this by thinking of us as systems that can be optimized, similar to robots.
Your circadian clock has a specific point during the day when your body temperature is at its lowest, and your alertness levels are at their peak. When you travel to a new time zone, this point shifts, which is why you feel jet lagged. You can speed up the adjustment process by timing your exposure to light. Your eyes sense light and send that information to your brain’s internal clock.
To adjust your body clock, you need to experience one block of bright light and one block of dim darkness each day. For example, if you travel from New York to London, on the first day, you should begin light exposure at 7:58 a.m. and start darkness at 8:14 p.m. On the second day, expose yourself to light at 6:18 a.m. and avoid light at 7:53 p.m., and so on.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do the calculations yourself—there’s an app for that! The reason I’ve been up since 4:30 is that this app told me to get up. Currently, it’s only available for Apple devices, but an Android version is in development. You can use the app to see your light and dark schedules to adjust your body clock to a new time zone. Additionally, you can contribute to science by submitting your data back to Olivia to help improve the app and her research.
This is a significant circadian study on a large scale that hasn’t been done before. I’ve been outside getting some light, and I think I’ve pretty much adjusted from LA to Sydney after about four days. Let me know in the comments what you think of the app if you’ve downloaded it, or if you have any other hacks to overcome jet lag quickly. If you haven’t already, subscribe to BrainCraft! I’ll have another episode on sleep out in two weeks, so don’t miss it!
Jet Lag – A temporary disruption of the body’s normal biological rhythms after high-speed air travel through several time zones. – After flying from New York to Tokyo, the biologist experienced jet lag, which affected her ability to conduct experiments efficiently.
Circadian – Relating to biological processes that occur on a roughly 24-hour cycle, often in response to light and darkness in an organism’s environment. – The mathematics department conducted a study on circadian rhythms to understand how they influence students’ cognitive performance during exams.
Rhythms – Regularly recurring sequences of events or processes, especially in biological contexts. – The research focused on the mathematical modeling of cardiac rhythms to predict irregular heartbeats.
Mathematics – The abstract science of number, quantity, and space, either as abstract concepts or as applied to other disciplines such as physics and engineering. – The professor explained how advanced mathematics is used to model complex biological systems.
Exposure – The condition of being subjected to something, such as light or a chemical, which can influence biological processes. – The study examined the effects of prolonged exposure to artificial light on the circadian rhythms of laboratory mice.
Light – Electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye, crucial for various biological processes. – The researchers used controlled light exposure to study its impact on plant growth cycles.
Darkness – The absence of light, which can trigger specific biological responses in organisms. – The biology students conducted an experiment to observe how darkness affects the sleep patterns of nocturnal animals.
Schedule – A plan for carrying out a process or procedure, giving lists of intended events and times. – The research team developed a schedule to monitor the effects of different sleep patterns on cognitive function.
Technology – The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. – Advances in technology have enabled mathematicians to solve complex equations that were previously unsolvable.
Research – The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources to establish facts and reach new conclusions. – The university’s biology department is conducting research on the genetic basis of circadian rhythms.
