Most of us don’t think much about our circadian rhythms until we have to spring forward or fall back an hour each year. It is at this point that we all remember how much those seemingly slight time alterations mess up our internal clocks. We’re tired, grouchy, and a little out of sorts for a day or more. In 2025, researchers at Stanford Medicine proved how these fluctuations can be harmful to our overall health, not to mention our attitudes at having our sleep routines changed.
Sometimes, though, changes to our circadian rhythms are caused by disease such as dementia, Parkinson’s, or stroke. It is even possible for certain medications to impact our rhythms. Before we can manage when our own, or our loved ones’, internal clocks are out-of-sync, we need a better understanding of what they are and how they function.
What exactly are circadian rhythms?
We don’t actually have clocks within our bodies, of course, but our brains do contain a group of nerve cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The SCN can be thought of as the timekeeper that sends messages to other parts of the brain, reminding them to send hormones and peptides throughout the body at different times. The pattern of how and when this happens, our “rhythm,” is influenced by things like light, stress, temperature, and disease.
“Circadian rhythms are important to understand as they impact our overall wellbeing and function across the day,” says Dr. Greg E. Cooper, director of Norton Neuroscience Institute Memory Center. “Circadian rhythms help control our alertness, mental sharpness, and sleep.”
Our circadian rhythms change throughout our lives. If you’ve ever spent time with a newborn, you know that they don’t yet have any kind of circadian rhythm, which is why they eat and sleep at all hours of the day and night. Teenagers, too, have shifting rhythms, which is why they tend to stay up later at night and need to sleep later in the morning. As people age, especially beyond 60, they often find their sleeping and waking patterns change once again.
If our circadian rhythms are impaired as a result of disease, Dr. Cooper notes that it can result in less mental clarity and even confusion in the afternoons and evenings, a term commonly known as sundowning among dementia patients.
“Circadian rhythms may become impaired due to degeneration of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), affecting the ability of the retina and brain to respond to light or to other factors in the brain and in our environment,” he adds.
How can we manage our circadian rhythm?
If one’s circadian rhythm is off due to traveling through time zones, or a loved one’s clock is out of sync due to disease, there are steps to help minimize the negative impacts.
Stay on schedule. Dr. Cooper recommends adhering to a schedule as much as reasonably possible and paying attention to external cues. “Exposure to bright light, particularly in the mornings, can help entrain our rhythms,” he explains. Getting physical exercise is an important piece of getting one’s body back in sync, too.
Nap with caution. If one’s circadian rhythm is disordered, resulting in irritability and tiredness, it might seem like a nap would set things right. But depending on the length and time of day of the nap, a daytime snooze can actually do more harm than good.
Mind your bedtime habits. It isn’t just a morning routine that matters to our circadian rhythms; so does what we do at bedtime. Unfortunately, the cell phones, tablets, and televisions we watch on a regular basis emit blue light that boosts alertness, reaction times, and our mood, which is exactly what we don’t want to have happen in the evenings when our bodies are primed to start settling down toward sleep.
Caregivers of individuals with dementia are often encouraged to help their loved ones find calming activities in the evenings rather than watching screens, such as looking through photographs or listening to quiet music.
Watch meal and snack times. When we eat can also play a role in our circadian rhythms. Our bodies generally tend to get hungry at certain times of the day. When we eat at odd hours, the cells in our bodies can’t orchestrate their functions as they normally would. You might think of the tiredness or crankiness you experience as every cell in your body saying, “Get me back into a routine.”
By Carrie Vittitoe
P.S. What Do Your Senses Need? – Our Sensory System’s Important Role
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