How does life in cities versus rural areas shape our circadian rhythms? How does access to electricity — or the lack of it — impact sleep timing? And what happens to our circadian rhythms when we move from an urban setting to camping outside?

Our guest Luísa Klaus Pilz (Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin) comments on field studies carried out when she was a PhD student and postdoc at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Laboratório de Cronobiologia e Sono - HCPA/UFRGS).

Links and resources related to the episode’s content

• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-29494-4

• https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.773969/full

• https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)31522-6

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(00:44) Questions from a Londoner

(03:07) Guest introduction

(03:57) Why care about rural vs urban light?

(07:28) Sleep changes with urbanization

(09:40) The effects of electricity and artificial light

(10:49) Quilombola communities

(16:38) Metabolic health differences

(20:53) Rural occupations and light exposure

(24:00) Other differences in behaviour

(25:22) Adapting to a different environment

(28:27) Future research questions

(31:49) Outro

For feedback and questions, you can contact us at: lightoclock@tuebingen.mpg.de

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Website: https://www.tscnlab.org/podcast

On 30 March 2025, Europe will switch to Daylight Saving Time (DST), moving clocks forward by one hour. While many people enjoy longer evenings, scientists in sleep and circadian research argue that DST can be harmful to our health. In this episode, we dive into the controversy surrounding DST and answer three key questions:

• Why do chronobiologists want to get rid of DST?

• What does the evidence say about DST’s impact on road traffic accidents?

• What does the public think about abolishing DST?

We hear from experts, including Prof. Till Roenneberg, Prof. Sara Montagnese and Prof. Andrew Coogan, to break down the scientific and political debates around DST. Plus, we explore the short- and long-term health effects of DST on our health, the challenges of assessing this impact, and why public opinion seems to contradict expert recommendations when it comes to clock changes.

Timestamps

(02:11) DST and time zones
(04:12) What happens to our clock when we change to DST
(05:35) Short- and long-term consequences on DST
(07:51) DST and social jet-lag
(10:10) Challenges of studying DST effects on our heath
(11:05) DST and driving performance
(13:45) DST and road traffic accidents
(17:37) Geography matters
(20:30) What does the public think about clock changes?
(23:15) Results of survey on public opinions in Ireland
(26:20) Wording matters: Summer time/Winter time
(30:24) Is this the battle chronobiologists should fight?
(33:00) Summary and outro

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Website: https://www.tscnlab.org/podcast

Light O’Clock is back with a brand new season! In the next five episodes, we’re looking beyond the biology of body clocks to explore how our modern world shapes our biological rhythms — and how politics and society influence decisions about our body clocks.

We’ll cover the controversies around clock changes and school start times, discuss how indoor lifestyles might be affecting our vision, compare rhythms of people living in big cities and rural areas, and assess the impact of light pollution on human health and on the environment.

Catch you on Tuesday, 25 March 2025! New episodes released every last Tuesday of the month.

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Bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/lightoclock.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightoclockpodcast/

Website: https://www.tscnlab.org/podcast

How do individuals with lived experience and researchers come together to co-design a scientific study? In this special episode of Light O’Clock, we hear from Patrica Pelosi and Nomhle Nhlapho, who have lived experience of bipolar disorder and have contributed to shaping the HELIOS-BD study (more in our previous episode). We also hear from Dr Amy Ferguson, who works closely with the Lived Experience Advisory Panel of the HELIOS-BD study and is the coordinator of the Circadian Mental Health Network.

• More on the Circadian Mental Health Network [https://www.circadianmentalhealth.org/]

• Have your say! Survey on what you think researchers should focus on when it comes to sleep, mental health and the body clock: [https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7P9EO2VGRjMQmAm] NOTE: This survey is only open to people living in the UK.

• How do you see light? AI-generated art depicting the inner experience of people living with bipolar disorder [https://www.heliosbd.com/gallery]

(00:00) Intro
(00:55) Introducing the guests
(04:36) What is the Circadian Mental Health Network?
(12:45) What does co-design look like for the HELIOS-BD project?
(19:00) Creative aspects of the co-design process
(20:08) How collaboration helps lived experience individuals, scientists, and participants
(23:14) Challenging aspects of co-design
(32:10) Outro

Contact

For feedback and questions, you can contact us at: lightoclock@tuebingen.mpg.de

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightoclockpodcast/

Website: https://www.tscnlab.org/podcast

On the occasion of Daylight Awareness Week 2024 (28-31 October) and Halloween, Light O’Clock is partnering up with the Daylight Academy to bring you an extra special episode that blends the science, the spooky, and the supernatural! Our host dives into the eerie mysteries of circadian rhythms, sleep and daylight with Prof. em. Anna Wirz-Justice, a pioneer in the field of chronobiology.

Tune in to learn about the witching hour, twilight, the forbidden zone, sundowning and much more!

This episode is supported by the Daylight Academy.

• Daylight Academy: https://daylight.academy/

• Daylight Awareness Week 2024: https://daylight.academy/daylight-awareness-week-2024/

(00:00) Intro
(02:28) Circadian forbidden zone
(06:33) Sleep deprivation symptoms
(08:15) Sleep deprivation as therapy
(11:30) Twilight
(14:30) Dusk without electric light
(16:13) Sundowning
(17:03) Darkness
(23:10) Lack of daylight in the North
(27:23) The witching hour
(29:07) Light therapy
(33:22) Dark therapy
(38:28) Outro

Contact

For feedback and questions, you can contact us at: lightoclock@tuebingen.mpg.de

Follow us on social media to stay up to date with our episodes and discover related content:

Twitter/X: https://x.com/lightoclock

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Website: https://www.tscnlab.org/podcast

In today’s episode, we dive deep into the relationship between light, circadian rhythms and mental health with Prof. Daniel Smith from the University of Edinburgh. What role do light sensitivity and circadian rhythms play in bipolar disorder? How can we design studies to answer key questions in this area, and how can the involvement of patients ensure the success of a research study? Tune in to get the answers to these and many other questions about light, circadian rhythms and mental health.

• The HELIOS-BD study: https://www.heliosbd.com/

• The AMBIENT-BD study: https://www.ambientbd.com/

(00:00) Intro
(01:25) Introducing Prof. Smith
(02:45) Circadian rhythms and mental health
(05:20) In which direction is the relationship?
(07:25) The role of light
(13:28) What is bipolar disorder?
(16:45) Current treatment options
(17:54) Bipolar disorder and light sensitivity
(20:10) The HELIOS-BD study
(29:08) Patient recruitment
(30:58) The AMBIENT-BD study
(33:40) Co-production of research studies
(38:47) Outro

Contact

For feedback and questions, you can contact us at: lightoclock@tuebingen.mpg.de

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Twitter/X: https://x.com/lightoclock

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Website: https://www.tscnlab.org/podcast

Did you know that your body has many body clocks? Like instruments in an orchestra, they each have a specific role to play, but how do they stay in rhythm with each other? In today’s episode, Dr. Laura Kervezee dives deep into the different body clocks, who is the conductor that makes our body run in harmony, and what happens when the rhythm goes out of sync.

(00:00) Intro
(01:18) Introducing Dr. Kervezee
(01:46) The different body clocks
(03:20) How do these clocks sync?
(05:00) The orchestra and the conductor
(06:31) Clocks out of sync
(09:18) Desynchrony in real life
(10:25) Social jetlag
(11:18) Health consequences
(14:40) Future research: how to mitigate impact
(17:30) What can you do as a shift worker?
(22:25) Outro

Contact

For feedback and questions, you can contact us at: lightoclock@tuebingen.mpg.de

Follow us on social media to stay up to date with our episodes and discover related content:

Twitter/X: https://x.com/lightoclock

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightoclockpodcast/

Website: https://www.tscnlab.org/podcast

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Can you choose to be an early type? In this episode, Dr. Anna M. Biller from the Technical University of Munich explains what chronotype is, how it changes throughout the lifespan, what happens when your biological clock and your social clock are out of sync, and how can you measure your type. Listen to uncover the answers to these and many other fascinating questions about chronotype.

• Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) [https://qxmd.com/calculate/calculator_829/morningness-eveningness-questionnaire-meq]

• The Munich ChronoType Questionnaire (MCTQ) [https://www.thewep.org/documentations/mctq]

(00:00) Intro
(01:17) Introducing Dr. Biller
(02:29) What is chronotype?
(07:26) Biological measures of chronotype
(09:34) Factors that affect chronotype
(10:36) Can your chronotype change?
(12:57) The biological vs the social clock
(16:01) Can night owls become early birds?
(18:18) School start times
(20:52) Sex differences
(22:38) How to know your chronotype?
(29:13) Summary
(30:56) Outro

Contact

For feedback and questions, you can contact us at: lightoclock@tuebingen.mpg.de

Follow us on social media to stay up to date with our episodes and discover related content:

Twitter/X: https://x.com/lightoclock

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Website: https://www.tscnlab.org/podcast