Laura Sanders
Nov 16. 2010
Jet lag, most of you have experienced this when you go into a different time zone, it makes you tired and very easily annoyed. But most people forget about it after a good long sleep. But recent studies Erin Gibson of the University of California, Berkele, have shown that going into a new timezone can also lower your IQ. Studies have shown people who travel to different time zones have a bigger possibility of getting cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer.
Eric Gibson and his team of researchers tested this on a group of hamsters, by changing their sleeping and eating times by 6 hours every 3 days, which is like going from Serbia to China every 3 days. The hamsters amount of sleep didn't change, but their sleeping and eating patterns were a mess.
Soon, the hamsters were showing memory loss, like not remembering where their food was or which of the 2 chambers they lived in had wood shaving to sleep in. The hamsters also had a harder time figuring out what a wheel does even though a few days ago they were using it easily. These problems were most likely caused because after their "jet lag," due to cell death or stress, they only used 50% of their brain. Even 28 days after they stopped changing time zones they were still confused and still had a lower IQ then usual. Gary Gibson says he will do more tests to find out the exact cause and effect of Jet lag.
I chose this article because it really caught my eye. I often travel to different time zones even though I'm not effected that bad cause I'm younger. My parents looked like they'd just ran a marathon. And I also chose this article because everything else I could find was a bit boring.
I hope that "jet lag" thing doesn't affect us as much as the poor hamsters. I think you did a really great job, but, is it Erin, Eric, or Gary Gibson? he or she? I like your humor though.
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