SCN

Tough Travel: 

Tough Travel Brandon Ray 505

Slide 2: 

Topic : Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN). Purpose : To inform you about what the SCN is and how the brain is affected by travel.

What They Are: 

What They Are Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Biological clock. Highly influenced by light. Controls the sleep cycle. Contains a group of nerve cells. Hypothalamus Where the SCN is located. Emotional part of brain. Pearl size. Controls the nervous system.

Location : 

Location

How The SCN Works: 

Includes specially adapted time-keeping cells wired to expect cycles of 24 hours. Light can shift schedules. Changes are slow and limited. How The SCN Works

Sleep: 

This biological clock is connected to sleeping. Our body is on a 24 hour system. Humans Prefer a 25 hour day. Indoor lighting tricks the SCN to think sunrise is later than it really is. SCN is wired to an optic nerve that connect to your eyes. This is how we know it’s daytime. Sleep

24 Hour Days: 

We eat because we get hungry from hypothalamus. We sleep because of our 24 hour time clock from SCN. We release different hormones because of the hypothalamus. These both affect many main parts of life like sleep and eating. 24 Hour Days

Test: 

Done many test on sleep. Examples: Human cave studies, fruit flies, and rats. Humans lost sense of time and were sleeping at lunch. Scientist have done other examples with other animals on the need of sleep. Test

Travel Time: 

Definition of jet lag. 1)Disruption of the body’s 24 hour cycle. 2) Extreme tiredness and other physical effects felt by a person after a long flight across many time zones. Travel Time

Jet Lag: 

Jet lag makes it tough on travel. It’s when you experience changes in time zones. Late night shift workers may also expect jet lag if maintaining a day shift. Our eyes deceive us. Jet Lag

Wild West: 

Travel is very hard on our bodies. Westward travel is no different. To help yourself a little from jet lag, expose yourself to light in the late afternoon and evening. Avoid light in the morning. Wild West

Early East: 

Just like the west it’s very hard to travel. Eastward travel is even more difficult. Expose yourself to more sunlight in the morning. Avoid light in the late afternoon. Early East

Time Zones: 

Sun rise and different lighting affect your body. Unlike east and west, north and south don’t really put off much jet lag. There aren’t as many time zones to pass. Time Zones

Helpful Hints: 

Eastward travel get light in the morning. Westward travel get light in the afternoon. Also you can use melatonin. This is a hormone your body releases that helps decrease jet lag. Take 1-3 mg when you arrive. Go to bed early a couple of nights before the trip. Helpful Hints

Conclusion: 

The SCN works in many various ways. Remember don’t let your body get lazy. Try to stay active, drink liquids, and take these helpful hints before you go on your next long trip. Conclusion

Sources: 

MacDonald, M. A. (2008). Your brain the missing manual . (pp. 46-50). Canada: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Goldman, A. R. (1995). Melatonin: A review. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology , 19 , 258-260. Jet lag . (1996). Retrieved from http://worldsleepfoundation.org/jet-lag Bailey, R. E. (2011). Hypothalamus . Retrieved from http://biology.about.com/od/anatomy/p/Hypothalamus.htm Sources