Revisiting chronodisruption: When the physiological nexus between internal and external times splits in humans

Thomas C. Erren, Russel J. Reiter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this Concepts & Synthesis paper, we expand the definition of chronodisruption in humans by proposing that it can be operationalized as the split nexus of internal and external times. With this premise, we suggest how chronotype may be used as a temporal marker (chronomarker) of exposure to chronodisruption in studies of cancer, and beyond, offer cancer risk predictions for observational research on the basis of a chronotype-related hypothesis and corollary, and point to first empirical data in humans. In an a priori way, we examine possible outcomes and perspectives for preventive measures following from our rationale and the suggested chronobiology-driven studies and close with overall advances of chronodisruption research.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)291-298
Number of pages8
JournalNaturwissenschaften
Volume100
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cancer
  • Chronodisruption
  • Chronotype
  • Disease
  • External time
  • Health
  • Internal time
  • Shift work

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Revisiting chronodisruption: When the physiological nexus between internal and external times splits in humans'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this