Chronobiology
Author: María Coldeira | Email: florcoldeira@gmail.com
María Florencia Coldeira1°2°, Laura Lucía Trebucq1°, Camila Godoy Peirone1°, Ignacio Spiousas1°2°, Diego A. Golombek1°2°, Horacio de la Iglesia3°, Leandro P. Casiraghi1°2°
1° Laboratorio Interdisciplinario del Tiempo (LITERA), Universidad de San Andrés
2° CONICET
3° Department of Biology, University of Washington
Studies report that a large proportion of adolescents experience short sleep duration and significant social jet lag (SJL; the misalignment between their internal circadian rhythms and socially imposed schedules), both which are strongly associated with negative health outcomes. Teenagers often display severely late chronotypes, which are in conflict with early morning obligations like school. It has been observed that adolescents in big cities exhibit high levels of SJL and suffer from chronic sleep deprivation, with less than 10% sleeping the recommended 8h per night on weekdays. Our sleep studies in rural and semi-urban Toba/Qom populations in the north of Argentina allows us to study adolescents free from hyper-industrialized social constraints. From 2016 to the present, we have evaluated sleep through wrist-actimetry, while observing their living conditions gradually change, specifically through the introduction of electric light and, more recently, of internet access. All communities in our study have gradually delayed their sleep times, including those participants in the 15 to 20 y.o. range, who exhibit the latest chronotypes. However, SJL seems hardly detectable in the Toba/Qom, even in teenagers. Our studies reinforce the evidence that socially determined obligations such as early school times and commuting contribute to adolescents’ sleep deficiencies.