Understanding Jet Lag: How Time Zone Changes Affect Our Brains
In Understanding Jet Lag: How Time Zone Changes Affect Our Brains, host Harith Iskander explains how jet lag occurs when a person’s internal clock doesn’t match the external time of a new location. The brain’s oscillator cells in the hypothalamus, which help regulate our sleep-wake cycles, struggle to adjust quickly. Traveling east can be especially difficult because it shortens the body’s natural circadian cycle, while flying west allows for more gradual adjustment. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Got Science?, a science magazine series that explores and explains science in everyday life.
Lesson Express
Q: What causes jet lag when people travel across time zones?
A: Jet lag happens when our internal clock doesn't align with the time in a new location, making it hard for our brains to adjust to a new sleep-wake schedule.
Q: Why is it generally easier to adjust when flying west compared with flying east?
A: Flying west extends the natural circadian cycle, making it easier to adapt, while flying east shortens it, causing more disruption.
Q: How does melatonin affect our experience of jet lag?
A: Melatonin helps regulate our sleep-wake cycle, so changes in its production during time zone shifts can make us feel tired or out of sync.