Circadian health expert and medical scientist Logan Pendergrast, Ph.D., explains why the sleep environment is one of the most important factors for improving rest. He highlights how elements like light, noise, and air quality influence not only how quickly we fall asleep, but also how well we stay asleep through the night.
Dr. Pendergrast emphasizes that shift workers are particularly vulnerable to environmental disruptions, since they often sleep at times misaligned with natural light and sound patterns. Research shows that as much as 90% of sleep quality in shift workers is influenced by environmental rather than biological factors. The good news is that these factors can be modified, making the sleep environment a powerful tool for protecting rest and recovery.
0:00
So if we zoom out a bit here and talk
0:02
about largecale processes, we're really
0:05
going to begin to talk about two
0:07
fundamental physiological processes. And
0:10
one of these physiological processes is
0:12
called the homeostatic sleep drive. So
0:15
the homeostatic sleep drive can
0:17
essentially be thought of as our body's
0:19
sleep pressure gauge. So throughout the
0:21
day, we have a buildup of this
0:23
neurotransmitter adenosine that I
0:24
mentioned in the previous slide. And as
0:26
adenosine builds, the pressure to fall
0:29
asleep builds, the pressure to feel
0:31
sleepy builds. And then when we initiate
0:34
actual sleep itself, that pressure gauge
0:37
begins to diminish as the adenosine
0:39
levels drop. And that allows us to wake
0:41
up and feel more awake as we begin our
0:44
days because our adenosine levels are at
0:46
a low point. Now in parallel with this,
0:49
we have what's called our body circadian
0:52
rhythm. So our circadian rhythm is a
0:54
internal timekeeper that operates within
0:56
the body and it helps us coordinate our
0:59
sleep and our hormones to our outside
1:02
life so that we can optimize say let's
1:04
say insulin which is a hormone that
1:06
helps us rid sugar from our bloodstream
1:08
so that we can clear that sugar from our
1:10
bloodstream and use it for energy. And
1:12
there are other hormonal processes that
1:14
are regulated by our circadian rhythm so
1:16
that we can coordinate let's say our
1:19
hunger or our energy levels to the given
1:21
task that we need for our day. Now um as
1:25
a final just point here we'll mention
1:28
social cues. So for those of us who are
1:30
shift workers, these two systems can
1:32
become desynchronized. And in some ways,
1:35
our social cues such as not just our
1:38
social interactions with individuals,
1:39
but our meals and our work patterns can
1:42
desynchronize our circadian rhythms and
1:45
our homeostatic sleep drive. So we may
1:48
begin to feel a bit less good than we
1:51
normally feel due to desynchronized
1:54
sleep. And so there are different
1:57
behaviors that we can engage in and
1:58
different tips that we can operate
2:00
within so that we can optimize and
2:02
prevent this desynchrony and function
2:04
better as human beings.
