CLOCK, BMAL1, PER, CRY · The Molecular Clock
The 24-hour feedback loop inside every cell. The 2017 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Circadian Health
The Clock System
SCN, peripheral clocks, clock genes
7 topics. 6 rest on strong human evidence. Ordered with the best evidenced first.
7 topics in The Clock System
Tissue Clocks · Every Cell Keeps Time
Your liver, muscle, and gut each run their own clock, and they can disagree.
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus · The Master Clock
Twenty thousand neurons above the optic chiasm that run the entire body's clock.
Adenosine · Sleep Pressure / Process S
The molecule that tracks how long you have been awake, and the one caffeine blocks to hide the bill.
PER3, CLOCK, CRY1 · The Genetics of Timing
A few rare variants flip your whole schedule. Most chronotype is hundreds of small ones.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) · Circadian Mood Disruption
Recurrent winter-pattern depression tied to a delayed circadian clock, not the same thing as the winter blues.
Sleep Trackers & Wearables · Measurement
These devices measure movement, heart rate, HRV and temperature. They infer sleep stages.