Latitudinal cline of chronotype

The rotation of the Earth around its own axis and around the sun determines the characteristics of the light/dark cycle, the most stable and ancient 24 h temporal cue for all organisms. Due to the tilt in the earth’s axis in relation to the plane of the earth’s orbit around the sun, sunlight reaches...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Miguel, Mario André Leocadio, Louzada, Fernanda Mazzili, Duarte, Leandro Lourenção, Areas, Roberto Peixoto, Alam, Marilene, Freire, Marcelo Ventura, Araujo, John Fontenele, Barreto, Luiz Menna, Pedrazzoli, Mario
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UFRN
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.ufrn.br:123456789/25478
Acceso en línea:https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/25478
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Circadian regulation
Circadian rhythms and sleep
Descripción
Sumario:The rotation of the Earth around its own axis and around the sun determines the characteristics of the light/dark cycle, the most stable and ancient 24 h temporal cue for all organisms. Due to the tilt in the earth’s axis in relation to the plane of the earth’s orbit around the sun, sunlight reaches the Earth differentially depending on the latitude. The timing of circadian rhythms varies among individuals of a given population and biological and environmental factors underlie this variability. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that latitude is associated to the regulation of circadian rhythm in humans. We have studied chronotype profiles across latitudinal cline from around 0° to 32° South in Brazil in a sample of 12,884 volunteers living in the same time zone. The analysis of the results revealed that humans are sensitive to the different sunlight signals tied to differences in latitude, resulting in a morning to evening latitudinal cline of chronotypes towards higher latitudes.