Publication: Ageing of the circadian system. From monitoring to chronoenhancement.
Authors
Martinez-Nicolas, A ; Almaida Pagán, Pedro Francisco ; Martinez-Madrid, M J ; Argüelles, R ; Ortega-Sabater, C ; Fernandez-Ortiz, M ; Costa, J. de ; Madrid, J A ; Rol, M A
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Publisher
Spanish Society of Anti-Ageing Medicine and Longevity (SEMAL)
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Fisiología Chronobiology Lab, Department of Physiology, College of Biology, University of Murcia, Mare Nostrum Campus. IUIE, IMIB-Arrixaca, Spain. Ciber Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain. Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
DOI
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Description
© SEMAL 2018. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This document is the Published version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Approaches to Ageing Control. Journal of the Spanish Society of Anti-Ageing Medicine and Longecity.
Abstract
The circadian system (CS) organizes the temporal order of all living beings. Its general structure is very
similar among species and consists of receptors of the temporal information (inputs), a central pacemaker
along with several peripheral clocks that depend on it (machinery), and a set of overt rhythms driven by
the central clock (outputs). The CS ages like any other structure of the organism, this process being
characterized by a poorer reception of the temporal information, a general impairment of the central
pacemaker and a phase advance, fragmentation and dampening of the overt rhythms. In order to assess
the functioning of the CS, some overt rhythms have been selected as markers since they mirror the activity
of the central pacemaker. Some of the most used marker rhythms are those of melatonin and cortisol
secretion, rest-activity and sleep-wake patterns, and core body and distal skin temperature. Nevertheless,
these rhythms can be masked by external variables and thus, to simultaneously record several marker
rhythms is recommended. As the CS ages, the ability of an organism to adjust the internal temporal order of physiological, biochemical and behavioural circadian rhythms to the environmental cycles is compromised
and chronodisruption can appear, which is related with several diseases. Fortunately, there are some strategies that one person can follow in order to enhance the functioning of the CS: to increase
the contrast between day and night (i.e. to exposure to bright days and dark nights), to have melatonin (if
needed), to do regular exercise, to improve sleep and meal schedules or to increase social contacts.
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Citation
Approaches to Ageing Control. Journal of the Spanish Society of Anti-Ageing Medicine and Longecity. Nº 22. October 2018, pp. 62-72
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