[SN Today] from [ScienceNews]
[Science News for Kids]
By Susan Gaidos Web edition : Monday, March 1st, 2010
FOR KIDS: Making light of sleep
Teens are prone to sleep problems, but a little sunshine could help
CONTINUED FROM newssn1
Green says this kind of pattern can knock the circadian rhythm totally off-kilter. By sleeping late on weekends, Macejka was disrupting her the sleep-wake cycle for the whole week. “It’s like having jet lag,” Green says. Jet lag happens when your circadian rhythm is running on a different day-night cycle than the day-night cycle of the outside world.
Kids who are struggling to get out of bed in the morning may need help resetting their internal clocks, he says. “You can't just turn back the clock and make a big change overnight. The brain and the body and the timing systems don't work that way.”
But gradual changes can be made. Green recommends starting out by going to bed at your regular time, but getting up a few minutes earlier each day. “You may start out with a late bedtime, but if you get up earlier every day, you will eventually go to bed earlier, too.”
Staying away from light in the evening is also important. That means no computer or TV in the bedroom. He also recommends getting out into the early morning daylight for 10 to 15 minutes.
It worked for Macejka. In just a few weeks she was able to get her sleep-wake cycle in sync with her schedule and with the sun’s cycle. She says she now feels more awake in class and no longer needs naps. Her grades have shot up, too. Now that’s nothing to make light of.
Power words (adapted from Access Science: Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Online)
photoreceptors Cells or groups of cells found in both plants and animals that are sensitive to light.
retina The part of a vertebrate eye that is the end of the expansion of the optic nerve and that also hosts photoreceptors.
rods Photoreceptors in the retina of the eye that are sensitive to dim light.
cones Photoreceptors in the retina of the eye that respond to specific colors of light.
melatonin A hormone that helps to regulate the body’s master clock.
circadian rhythm A cycle of changes in the body that follow a 24-hour cycle that usually matches the light-dark cycle of an organism’s surroundings.
[Science News for Kids]
By Susan Gaidos Web edition : Monday, March 1st, 2010
FOR KIDS: Making light of sleep
Teens are prone to sleep problems, but a little sunshine could help
CONTINUED FROM newssn1
Green says this kind of pattern can knock the circadian rhythm totally off-kilter. By sleeping late on weekends, Macejka was disrupting her the sleep-wake cycle for the whole week. “It’s like having jet lag,” Green says. Jet lag happens when your circadian rhythm is running on a different day-night cycle than the day-night cycle of the outside world.
Kids who are struggling to get out of bed in the morning may need help resetting their internal clocks, he says. “You can't just turn back the clock and make a big change overnight. The brain and the body and the timing systems don't work that way.”
But gradual changes can be made. Green recommends starting out by going to bed at your regular time, but getting up a few minutes earlier each day. “You may start out with a late bedtime, but if you get up earlier every day, you will eventually go to bed earlier, too.”
Staying away from light in the evening is also important. That means no computer or TV in the bedroom. He also recommends getting out into the early morning daylight for 10 to 15 minutes.
It worked for Macejka. In just a few weeks she was able to get her sleep-wake cycle in sync with her schedule and with the sun’s cycle. She says she now feels more awake in class and no longer needs naps. Her grades have shot up, too. Now that’s nothing to make light of.
Power words (adapted from Access Science: Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Online)
photoreceptors Cells or groups of cells found in both plants and animals that are sensitive to light.
retina The part of a vertebrate eye that is the end of the expansion of the optic nerve and that also hosts photoreceptors.
rods Photoreceptors in the retina of the eye that are sensitive to dim light.
cones Photoreceptors in the retina of the eye that respond to specific colors of light.
melatonin A hormone that helps to regulate the body’s master clock.
circadian rhythm A cycle of changes in the body that follow a 24-hour cycle that usually matches the light-dark cycle of an organism’s surroundings.
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