Genomic Repeat: The Circadian Rhythm - Challenging our assumptions about sleep

This episode was originally released on November 14, 2023

Sleep is essential to our lives, but our perception of how it functions in our non-waking life is not always well understood. So in the mires of our busy daily lives do we overlook sleep by seeing it as a means of refilling our energy for a productive day? By questioning this assumption, one term rolls from out of the haze: The ‘Circadian Rhythm’.

Dr. Kaylee Byers speaks with Dr. Hiroki Ueda from the University of Tokyo in the Faculty of Medicine on demystifying the links between our sleep and genomics. Then neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Coogan shares the connection between sleep and ADHD. Finally, we hear from Dr. Ueda and Dr. Hiroshi Ono, from Hitotsubashi University Business School, on how their homeland of Japan is reckoning with an off-balance relationship with sleep and work.

References:

1. Molecular Mechanisms of REM Sleep | Neurosci
2. The ability to dream may be genetic | Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC)
3. Next-Generation Mice Genetics for Circadian Studies | Neuromethods
4. Evolution of temporal order in living organisms | Journal of Circadian Rhythms
5. Learn about the bunker experiment to understand the human biological clock | Britannica
6. Genetic sleep deprivation: using sleep mutants to study sleep functions | EMBO reports
7. Circadian rhythms and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: The what, the when and the why | Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry
8. Insomnia: Definition, Prevalence, Etiology, and Consequences | Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine
9. No Sleep for Japan? Survey Reveals Half of Population May Have Insomnia | Nippon.com
10. Why Sleep Matters: Quantifying the Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep | Rand Corporation
11. Japan has some of the longest working hours in the world. It’s trying to change | CNBC
12. Announcement of the establishment of the nonpartisan "Parliamentary League to Promote Initiatives for People's Quality Sleep" | Sleeping Council Federation
13. Founder/Director CTO Yasumi Ueda gave a speech at the inaugural general meeting of the nonpartisan "Parliamentary League to Promote Initiatives for People's Quality Sleep" | ACCELStars
14. Free-running circadian activity rhythms in free-living beaver (Castor canadensis) | Journal of Comparative Physiology

Credits:

1. Dr. Rackeb Tesdaye
2. Curbing death by overwork | Financial Times
3. Why does Japan Work So Hard? | CNBC Explains
4. Worked to Death: Japan questions high-pressure corporate culture | France 24 English
5. Inside Japan’s growing ‘lonely death’ clean-up service | CNN International
6. How can governments help stop overwork? | The Question | CBC News: The National