Time change discourse happens on a predictable cycle. Every year, twice a year, a chorus of Canadians decries the policy of springing forward and falling back.
It really is like clockwork.
Their calls to abolish daylight time have largely been fruitless, but experts say the semi-annual hubbub provides an opportunity to reflect on an even more important cycle: the circadian rhythm.
Most Canadians are set to turn their clocks back an hour on the morning of Nov. 3. Then, they will set them forward again on March 9, knocking their circadian rhythm out of whack.
Patricia Lakin-Thomas, a professor at York University and board member for the Canadian Society for Chronobiology, has long been interested in biological cycles.
B次元官网网址淲hen I go to a chronobiology conference, IB次元官网网址檓 hearing talks about everything from human societies to bacteria in a dish,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e interested in the general question of: how do living things tell time?B次元官网网址�
The answer is the circadian rhythm, or what Lakin-Thomas describes as the B次元官网网址渂rain clock.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲e have rhythms in our guts and our liver and lungs and muscles, and the B次元官网网址榖rain clockB次元官网网址� sends information to keep all of those in synchrony,B次元官网网址� Lakin-Thomas said. B次元官网网址淭he B次元官网网址榖rain clockB次元官网网址� has to get reset every day because itB次元官网网址檚 not very accurate, and it needs sunlight to do that.B次元官网网址�
She calls the daily cycle of light and dark the B次元官网网址渟un clock.B次元官网网址�
Those two clocks are only tangentially related to the B次元官网网址渟ocial clockB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� the one hanging on your wall or displayed on your cellphone.
If Lakin-Thomas could rearrange society, she said sheB次元官网网址檇 align the social clock with the sun clock.
B次元官网网址淭he fantasy, of course, is to go back to the way people did it before we had clocks. Go back to what farmers do and get up with the sun, that would be the ideal,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淏ut that would mean that your neighbours slightly to the west of you are getting up a few minutes later than you are, and your neighbours slightly to the east are getting up a few minutes earlier than you are, and in our industrialized society, we wouldnB次元官网网址檛 be able to make that work.B次元官网网址�
Given the strictures of our post-industrial world, itB次元官网网址檚 worth understanding what we can do to help our brain clock align with the social clock, said Ralph Mistlberger, a psychology professor at Simon Fraser University who researches sleep.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e interested in specific brain mechanisms, but weB次元官网网址檙e also interested in how the circadian system is organized, what kinds of components there are, how itB次元官网网址檚 controlled by external stimuli,B次元官网网址� he said of his research lab.
Mistlberger has been studying sleep for more than four decades, and in that time has also been contracted by various sports teams to offer insight on how to mitigate the effects of jet lag.
He suggests using light as a tool to help adjust their circadian rhythm.
There are certain photoreceptors in the retina B次元官网网址� called melanopsinergic, intrinsically photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells B次元官网网址� that are crucial for resetting the circadian rhythm.
These arenB次元官网网址檛 the rods and cones that give us our vision, theyB次元官网网址檙e cells whose job is to detect the presence of light. Because of that, some blind peopleB次元官网网址檚 circadian rhythm is still affected by light, though others lack the photoreceptors.
For those who do have those photoreceptors, sighted or otherwise, the light has to be pretty intense, Mistlberger said, demonstrating with a studio light typically used in photoshoots and filming. It should be very bright and blue-toned, and you have to be pretty close to it.
B次元官网网址淚f IB次元官网网址檓 six inches away, if I hold this thing right up to my face, I can get a pretty good blast,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hat would be sufficientB次元官网网址hese things do work.B次元官网网址�
You also have to use them at certain times of day, he said.
Light exposure only affects the circadian rhythm when the brain perceives it to be the morning and night, Mistlberger said, so getting sun in the afternoon wonB次元官网网址檛 help wake you up.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 why many scientists are so opposed to clocks springing forward, he noted. It makes the sunrise happen later in the day B次元官网网址� creating further distance between the B次元官网网址渟un clockB次元官网网址� and the B次元官网网址渟ocial clockB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� which confuses the B次元官网网址渂rain clock,B次元官网网址� because people donB次元官网网址檛 get the early-morning dose of sunlight they need to reset their circadian rhythm.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 going to be harder to maintain an B次元官网网址榚arly to bed, early to wake,B次元官网网址� schedule,B次元官网网址� Mistlberger said.
Though many scientists and doctors suggest we should stick with standard time B次元官网网址� winter time B次元官网网址� policymakers are mostly moving in the opposite direction.
In 2020, Yukon opted to observe daylight time year-round. That means that in the capital of Whitehorse, come winter solstice Dec. 21, the sun doesnB次元官网网址檛 rise until 11 a.m.
That same year, Ontario passed legislation to permanently remain on daylight time, but the bill was contingent on Quebec and New York state also making the move.
The case for daylight time is mostly related to business: if the sun is out later in the evening, people will stay out later and spend money.
This year, Quebec politicians joined the discourse. Late last month, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette launched a public consultation on the time change, and said the government may table legislation to abolish the tradition.
In addition to the Yukon, Saskatchewan doesnB次元官网网址檛 change its clocks, and neither does a small region of eastern Quebec, which remains on Atlantic standard time year-round.
