How light and dark cycles influence the timing of the body’s internal clock

The simulation indicates that 6 to 7 days are required to recover from jet lag when traveling from Tokyo to New York.

• Circadian rhythms are 24-hour cycles found in behavior, biochemistry, and physiology.
• Under constant conditions, these rhythms maintain their intrinsic period length, which is rarely an exact 24 hours.
• Light affects the phase of gene expression rhythms, influenced by a network of interacting clock genes.
• The feedback network at the molecular level is crucial for how light impacts circadian rhythms in mammals.
• The model shows that the range of adaptation to light-dark cycles outside of 24 hours is limited.

Simplified