Know someone with a built-in "body clock?"
Jun 13, 2007 at 08:40AM
Doug in Science

body_clock.jpgI do. My wife has had one for as long as I’ve known her. It’s an amazing thing. I’ve seen it work countless times including when we’ve unexpectedly lost power and had to awaken at some horrendous hour without an alarm. She simply “sets her body clock” and awakens at the designated hour. Like clockwork. Amazing. Wish I had one.

So I was pleased to read that researchers at the University of Lubeck in Germany have discovered what may be the first biological evidence for the curious ability to wake up at will. As I might have guessed, they believe it has to do with hormonal secretions triggered by the stress of having to wake up. Hmmmm.

Unfortunately, they haven’t yet developed a psychological technique to strengthen the ability to set one’s internal alarm clock. Cognitive self-instruction, they speculate, in which a person drills himself in his plans for the next day, may wind the alarm.

So for now I’ll depend on the alarm clock. And my wife.

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