Thee master clock responsible for establishing our bodies cyclic circadian rhythms and keeping all the body's cells in sync is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a small, densely packed region of about 20,000 neurons housed in the brain's hypothalamus.
"If you're going to be a member of the Jet Set and fly off to Katmandu for coffee with King Mahendra," wrote Horace Sutton in the Los Angeles Times, "you can count on contracting Jet Lag, a debility not unakin to a hangover. Jet Lag derives from the simple fact that jets travel so fast they leave your body rhythms behind."
Our daily sleep cycles, behaviour, and metabolism, are regulated by a powerful master clock in an area of the brain known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus. This 'circadian' clock, located in the hypothalamus, is controlled by some special brain cells, which, in turn, are highly sensitive to daylight. The suprachiasmatic nucleus coordinates our body's internal processes with the external environment, helping us maintain a regular sleep-wake cycle.
