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Researchers Uncover the Root Cause of Jet Lag’s Negative Health Effects

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Jet lag is a temporary sleep disorder caused by long-distance travel across time zones, resulting in symptoms like fatigue and insomnia. A recent study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst explores how disruptions in circadian rhythms, similar to those experienced during jet lag, impact adult neurogenesis—the formation of neurons in the hippocampus essential for learning and memory. The study, led by Michael Seifu Bahiru and published in eNeuro, identifies the circadian clock gene Cryptochrome 1 (Cry 1) as crucial for regulating neurogenesis. It found that while jet lag affects the fate of newborn cells, leading them away from becoming neurons, it does not significantly impact overall cell birth. Researchers simulated jet lag conditions in Syrian hamsters with a mutation (duper) that enhances circadian rhythm adjustment. Results indicated that duper hamsters were resistant to the negative neurogenesis effects of jet lag, unlike wild-type hamsters. This study emphasizes the importance of circadian misalignment in jet lag’s negative health impacts and aims to further understand how circadian clocks affect neurogenesis and potential treatments for circadian rhythm disruptions.

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