Health lies in healthy circadian habits | Satchin Panda | TEDxBeaconStreet

Every organ and even every cell in our body has a circadian or 24-hour clock. Circadian clocks turn on and off thousands of genes at the right time of the day or night. These rhythms work together to maintain a healthy balance of brain chemicals, hormones and nutrients. When our rhythms break down we are more likely to suffer from a wide range of diseases from depression to cancer. We can tune our daily habits of eating, sleeping or getting the right amount of light to sustain our circadian rhythms. Healthy rhythms nurture healthy body and healthy mind. Dr. Satchidananda Panda is a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. His work deals specifically with the timing of food and its relationship with our biological clocks governed by circadian rhythm and also the circadian rhythm in general. Professor Panda explores the genes, molecules and cells that keep the whole body on the same circadian clock. A section of the hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) lies at the center of the body’s master clock and gets input directly from light sensors in the eyes, keeping the rest of the body on schedule. Panda discovered how these light sensors work, as well as how cellular timekeepers in other parts of the body function. He also uncovered a novel blue light sensor in the retina that measures ambient light level and sets the time to go to sleep and wake up every day. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx