Last Sunday, 48 states turned the clock back an hour in accordance with daylight saving time. Last week, three scientists in the Zeitzer Circadian Sleep Lab sat down with The Daily to talk about what this practice means for health and productivity. 

Lara Weed, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in bioengineering, was first interested in this research after being exposed to daylight savings controversy. Researchers have found that switching between standard time and daylight saving time could have negative impacts on health, including increased incidents of heart attacks and car accidents.

“I was seeing all this buzz online and thinking about this problem, and I [wondered], ‘Why hasn’t somebody already solved this?’” Weed said. 

After realizing how topical the question was and that she had skills to solve it, Weed decided to look into the impacts of time change policies on circadian health. 

However, Weed noted a serious question still left unanswered: “If we’re going to move away from switching back and forth, which permanent time policy should we choose?” Weed said. 

Weed and her lab’s research strive to answer that question. Through mathematical modeling with large data sets from groups like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they can test the effects of switching to standard time or daylight saving time for a year without physical test subjects.

“If you get more nighttime hours, your circadian clock will extend to make that up during the day,” Weed said. “Then, your schedule gets thrown off, which could impact your sleep and focus.” 

While many studies had previously shown that setting the clocks one hour ahead in spring had negative health effects, Weed was able to prove that permanent standard time optimized health. 

According to Weed’s results, staying on standard time led to decreases of 1% in obesity and heart disease.

“The theory is that if you get more morning light, which you get if you’re in Standard Time, it’s better for your circadian clock,” James Zeitzer, the head of the Zeitzer Circadian Research Lab, said. “It’s a nice theory, but it’s never been tested. To me, if you’re going to put out statements about public policy, you should at least have some data to back it up and not just a good theory.”  

Zeitzer explained that Weed’s groundbreaking research is the first and only study that addresses the impacts of a single-time policy on circadian rhythm over the course of a year. 

However, Zeitzer also cautioned against misinterpreting these results. Although Weed demonstrated that circadian rhythm benefits from year-round standard time, additional factors related to economic properties, exercise and socioeconomic status also could influence health. 

“This is a piece of the puzzle that we have solved. It is by no means so strong that it obviates all other arguments,” Zeitzer said. 

However, a college student who is already at a higher risk of getting poor sleep could find their focus and productivity negatively impacted by the changes in their circadian rhythm, Renske Lok, a postdoc in Zeitzer’s lab, wrote to The Daily.

“In cases of severe sleep deprivation, the brain can briefly “shut down” for a few seconds at a time, a phenomenon known as microsleeps,” Lok wrote. “Even a single night of shortened or poor-quality sleep can noticeably diminish short-term mental focus and increase the likelihood of mistakes.” 

To limit the adverse effects of daylight saving time change, Zeitzer recommended proper sleep hygiene, which includes going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day in order to get a full eight hours of sleep and enough daylight hours.

However, Zeitzer said he understood that the difficulties of maintaining a regular sleep schedule in college.

“If you’re going to pull an all-nighter because you haven’t done any of the reading all semester, then pull the all-nighter because it is better to know something than be well rested and know nothing,” Zeitzer said. “But, if it’s because you’re paranoid and you’re trying to get in this last bit of studying, don’t bother, because the night of sleep is actually going to make you more alert.”