Summer is the best in England. It is easy to understand why with the warm, sunny air it brings. But temperatures are not the only reason people prefer summer to the dark days of winter. Many also report that their mood is better in hot months.
But why does our spirits change in seasons? While there are many complex reasons why the air can have such a significant impact on our morale and well -being, the key response lies in our brain – and the way that almost all of our body systems is hard to respond to.
Your core temperature is set to 37 ° C. The temperature is regulated by an area of the brain known as the hypothalamus. The neural center receives information about temperatures from all over the body and begins to cool or warm it accordingly.
The outer temperature can also affect our biological clock – otherwise it is known as our day -to -day rhythm. These, including other functions, dominate our sleep cycle.
Our boarding rhythms are also adjusted by the hypothalamus – in particular, part of it called the nucleus superachiasmamatic. The fact that both temperature control and sleep cycle from the same brain area shows that they are indivisible.
This relationship can also help to some extent explain why our mood can change a lot from winter to summer. This interaction is between these neural pathways, which is believed to affect the mood through their impact on sleep, nervous transfers, and more.
For example, in winter, many people realize that they are drowning in their mood – especially in long, dark days. Some people even have seasonal emotional disorder (SAD), conditions associated with depression episodes fluctuating with different seasons forecasts-though it is usually more common in winter due to darker days and cold temperatures.
SAD can also disrupt sleep, lethargy, and appetite changes – especially carbohydrate cravings. With the arrival of summer months, people with SAD in winter usually improve their symptoms significantly.
There is evidence that SAD is associated with hormone secretion called melatonin – a hormone that is also related to our day -to -day rhythms. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland that shares neurotransmitting with hypothalamus and acts to control time and quality of sleep.
Melatonin’s surface usually remains relatively low during the day – but the evening level begins to crawl and reaches its highest level in the middle of the night. But the lower level of daylight in the winter can disrupt melatonin levels, normally increase the secretion. This probably explains why people feel more sleepy and tired in the winter – and this in turn may cause depression.
But it is not just melatonin that is associated with sadness. Other neurotransmitters acting as mood enhancers (such as serotonin) appear to be affected by dark and cold days. There is also a geographical location that shows that the disease shows the disease in the farthest areas of the equator, where there is excess in daylight and temperature.
The sadness of the summer
When summer finally appears, the effect of sun and heat on energy -boosting neurotransmitters (such as serotonin) makes a significant difference in mood. This may be partly due to increased vitamin D values - made in the skin and requires sunlight to reach a higher level. Vitamin D has been shown to affect the level of serotonin positively.
But not everyone is happy with the hotter temperature of the summer and the longer days. Some may find that they feel more miserable this season.
There is another change of sadness, albeit rare (which affects less than 10 % of SAD patients), which actually worsens in summer.
It is less clear why some people are sad in summer – and probably due to a wide range of factors. This may be due to heat, humidity or even self -awareness. This can even be due to sleep disruption – since longer days may disrupt our circadian rhythm.
Some health conditions may also affect how to cope with the warmer temperature. Take menopause, where symptoms such as hot hot flashes may be exacerbated by hot air. Those who deal with these symptoms may be even more difficult during the heat waves – and this may lead to their mental well -being.
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Some research suggests that rising temperatures can be a sedimentary for acute mental illness. A demographic study of patients with bipolar disorder examined and showed that there was a significant peak in the hospital in summer months compared to patients with other psychiatric disorders. Their statistical analysis showed that higher temperatures and solar radiation are the most important determinants of acute parts.
Another study has also shown the relationship between temperature rise and the risk of suicide behavior.
The body’s natural responses to heat are also fed in response to biological stress. Mechanisms that cool the body, such as sweating and promoting blood flow to the skin, can cause body water shortages and wash the skin. This may make people feel frustrated and irritable, have trouble concentrating, and may even affect sleep quality.
The interaction between temperature, sunlight, clock and day -to -day moods are a complex and attractive problem – and something that is as unique as any person. While some of us are wired for sunbathing, others are looking forward to the dark days of winter. But in a world where climate change is a definite fact, we need to better understand how a world of warming affects our prosperity.
Dan Baumgardt is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol
This article is originally published by the conversation and is published under the Creative Commons. Read Main article
