WEBVTT - Can Camping Help Us Sleep Better?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam. Here in this heady era

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<v Speaker 1>of peak efficiency and productivity, when apps and software promise

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<v Speaker 1>you the fastest path to personal or professional organization, you

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<v Speaker 1>might even want to regulate the amount of time that

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<v Speaker 1>you spend dozing. Between excessive screen time and longer working hours,

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<v Speaker 1>you might be desperate for a more natural and probably

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<v Speaker 1>earlier bedtime, but setting a sleep schedule is no small matter. However,

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<v Speaker 1>a study published in Current Biology shows that there might

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<v Speaker 1>be a rather simple solution. A weekend of camping could

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<v Speaker 1>be the path to an earlier bedtime. And no, that's

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<v Speaker 1>not because of exhaustion from constant grizzly vigilance, although that

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<v Speaker 1>can't hurt. It's because we rely on electrical light at

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<v Speaker 1>night and get too little exposure to daylight. So are

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<v Speaker 1>circadian rhythms push for a later bedtime? Our circadian rhythms

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<v Speaker 1>are our twenty four hour cycle of behavioral responses to

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<v Speaker 1>light in darkness, and that controls are biological clocks. The

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<v Speaker 1>researchers studied campers for a week in the winter and

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<v Speaker 1>a weekend in the summer to test seasonal and environmental

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<v Speaker 1>circadian changes. During the winter, the campers used no electronic

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<v Speaker 1>light at all. The study found that after spending time

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<v Speaker 1>in natural light and darkness, the participants adapted to the

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<v Speaker 1>natural light dark cycle. They slept longer and went to

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<v Speaker 1>bed earlier than they would in electrical environments, a whole

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<v Speaker 1>two and a half hours earlier for the winter group. Notably,

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<v Speaker 1>the research shows that even around the winter solstice, when

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<v Speaker 1>nights are long, folks enjoyed an earlier bedtime After being

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<v Speaker 1>out in nature for a few days. Melatonin levels, which

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<v Speaker 1>regulate wakefulness and sleep, rose at night and fell right

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<v Speaker 1>when the campers got up the typical cycle, but before

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<v Speaker 1>they tromped through the wilderness, their melatonin levels were slightly off,

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<v Speaker 1>falling hours after they got up, meaning their bodies still

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<v Speaker 1>desperately wanted to sleep. Camping is particularly advantageous on the weekend,

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<v Speaker 1>the research also shows, because that's when we usually waken,

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<v Speaker 1>sleep later and have circadian delays. Even more benefits might

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<v Speaker 1>come from knowing humans respond to seasonal lights so strongly.

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<v Speaker 1>Kenneth Wright, a co author of the study, points out

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<v Speaker 1>that workplaces with more natural light could lead to more

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<v Speaker 1>rested and productive workers, so it is possible to reset

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<v Speaker 1>our biological clocks. Just like a lot of animals, we

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<v Speaker 1>adapt seasonal light changes, and by simply enjoying more natural

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<v Speaker 1>and less electric light during the day, we can be

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<v Speaker 1>primed for better sleep at night. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Kate Kirshner and produced by Tyler Klang. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of I Heart Radios has Stuff Works. For

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<v Speaker 1>more in this and lots of other productive topics, visit

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