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Article: RHYTHMS OF THE NIGHT HEALTH WORKERS ARE LEARNING MORE ABOUT SLEEP PATTERNS, AND THEIR DISCOVERIES MAY SOUND A WAKE-UP CALL FOR MODERN MEDICINE.(U)
- Article from:
- Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
- Article date:
- December 16, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Daily News. 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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Byline: Mariko Thompson Staff Writer
The teenager who sleeps until noon. The morning person who's perky at the crack of dawn. The worker who has a burst of energy before lunch and then catches a second wind in the early evening.
Most people see these patterns as matters of personality or preference. Experts in circadian rhythms say they're biological, emanating from an internal clock that dictates everything from when we sleep to when we're most productive at work.
Deep in our brains, a clump of cells tinier than a pinhead form the body's clock. Called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, this timing system fluctuates over a 24-hour period and ...