Long jetlag recovery? Blame your scatty neurons

Scimex: Do you take a week to recover from jetlag, while your partner gets up a couple of mornings after a long flight spry as a spring lamb? Well, according to a US study, it may be because your partner has clock neurons that are more tightly synchronized than yours. The researchers report that mice with a well synchronized neural network can recover from a disrupted sleep pattern much quicker than those with less synchronized neurons, and say that the findings may help to treat jetlag and the tiredness associated with shift work. Ever notice how it takes you 8 days to recover from overseas travel but your spouse recovers in 3? The rate of recovery from jetlag likely depends on how the daily clock in your brain is wired. Using a mouse model of jetlag, we find that individuals that adjust quickly to jetlag have clock neurons that are more tightly synchronized than individuals that adjust slowly. These findings indicate that individual differences in daily rhythms can be influenced by how clock neurons function collectively as a group. This work may suggest new strategies to accelerate recovery during travel and shift work.

Viruses on a plane!

Hutch: Flu that infects mainly children circles globe more slowly than types that hit jet-setting adults.
Influenza viruses that infect mainly children circulate more slowly worldwide than those that infect mainly adults. The difference may be explained by an increasingly important factor in the spread of infectious diseases: modern air travel. Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Cambridge University developed a mathematical model that looks at RNA mutations to track how different flu viruses move around the world. The study, published today in the journal Nature, is the first large-scale attempt to track H1N1 and influenza B viruses rather than the more frequently studied – and it turns out, faster-traveling – H3N2 flu virus.

Stimulating treatment found for Disembarkment Syndrome

Deakin University neuroscientists have found brain stimulation reduces the symptoms of a rare balance disorder, offering hope to those who have failed to find their land legs years after a trip at sea.
In an Australian first study, Dr Alan Pearce, a neuroscientist with Deakin's School of Psychology, has been investigating the impact repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has on people suffering with a rare condition known as Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS).
"Following a cruise or trip on a yacht, it's not uncommon for people to feel like they are still on the boat bobbing or rocking when they return to dry land, particularly if the seas have been rough. These feeling might last for minutes or even a few hours, however for some people these feelings become chronic, developing into MdDS," Dr Pearce said.

Deakin: "For people with MdDS (Disembarkment Syndrome), the constant feeling of rocking and bobbing continues for years, and in some cases decades, with debilitating consequences. Sufferers often describe the sensation as feeling like they are walking on a trampoline and find doing the simplest of tasks, such as hanging out the washing, showering or going to the supermarket, near on impossible." The cause of MdDs is not fully known and it is difficult to diagnose as brain scans appear normal and inner ear testing, particularly the areas of the ear that contribute to balance, shows no abnormalities.

Jet lag

Author : Dr Peremarty MD

To the West, or to the East ?

More than three weeks or less than a week?
For vacations or for work (meeting)?
What kind of sleeper are you ?. Rather a lark, or an owl ?

A few practical advices for the traveller,

to help him/her obey the underlying rules of the sleep mechanisms better