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Article: Light sleepers.
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 11, 1992
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CROSS a few time zones and you will need to adjust any clocks you are carrying. Easy enough for those on your wrist or in your luggage; hard for the one in your brain. The suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), two small clusters of cells in the region called the hypothalamus, will tick away as though you had never left home. The consequences can be awkward. Your internal wake-up call may arrive in the middle of the night, or your breakfast may congeal uneaten because your digestive system is not expecting it. Eventually the environment reaches in, twiddles the appropriate knobs, and the SCN marches in step with the outside world. But it takes time.
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