Big Brain Differences Between “Morning People” and “Night Owls”
I recently saw a research finding from 2009 that was pretty interesting. Canadian scientists studied people who self-identified as “morning people” or “night people” and found striking differences in brain activity patterns between the two groups. They noticed that neuronal excitability started high and decreased throughout the day for morning people, and started low and increased for night people.
They also measured spinal cord response, which they found increased throughout the day in everyone. They posited that this might mean that night people are able to increase strength to its maximum potential better than morning people, because their brain and spinal cord activity are in sync, whereas the brain and spinal cord activity of morning people are off-kilter with one going up while the other goes down.
The researchers are hoping these findings could help find ways to help shift workers or others who have to adjust their schedules contrary to their natural inclinations. You can learn more about the study here.
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Posted: Neuroscience, Odds and Ends, Research studies
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January 20th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
FOR ALMOST 15 YEARS I WORKED THE NIGHT SHIFT.
I HAD NO PROBLEM STAYING UP ALL NIGHT AND WORKING THROUGH THE NIGHT, BUT THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO WOULD FALL ASLEEP STANDING ON THERE FEET, OR SITTING AT THEIR COMPUTERS.
NOW THAT I AM RETIRED, I HAVE A HARD TIME SLEEPING AT NIGHT, AND STAYING AWAKE DURING THE DAY.
January 31st, 2012 at 6:13 pm
I have been an owl all my life and I have always suffered because of it. I worked as a teacher for many years and found 9am lessons a real pain! Waking up properly late in the day means you can’t get to sleep early and so getting up for work is a real struggle. I have a husband who,thankfully is also an owl,and unfortunately for him so is my young son. Apparently one of the indicators of bad parenting is not getting your child to sleep early – that added to my stress and guilt I can tell you – but my son never slept during the day as a baby and is never asleep before 11pm now and he is only 11 years old. He, like me, suffers in the ams – and wakes up properly at about 8pm. My father was an owl too. Is it hereditary?
I work from home now – it is 2.11 am at the moment and I am working hard – not a bit tired. I’ll sleep in till 10.30 tomorrow. That’s the way I am!
February 1st, 2012 at 1:57 pm
To Roger – My experience exactly!! I’m most productive at night. Too easily distracted during the day.
February 3rd, 2012 at 7:50 am
My shift at work was 6:30 AM to 4:00 PM and every morning of my working years was spent feeling actually ill until about 10:00 AM when I would become `live` again.
Now that I am retired and able to sleep 8-9 hrs a day, I feel just great. Three of my siblings were the same way.
February 4th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Now I know why I’d rather stay up until 1:00 am and get up at 10:00 am but the world doesn’t work that way. When I must make an appointment for one thing or another there is no understanding that I simply cannot do it before 1:00 pm. My whole family was “night owls” and I thought it was just my conditioning because I was allowed to stay up late when I was a small child. And of course, getting up for the school day was always a problem. Never did get used to it.
February 8th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
As a child I was always the first in my family of seven to wake up.
When I was in my twenties, I was an actress, worked nights and sometimes partied afterwards. Often I slept till afternoon.
Later I worked for an adoptions agency and rose at 6 a.m. Now I am retired and 95 years old I still wake at 5:30 or 6 a.m.
Apparently one can switch between being a night person and a morning person.