Period lengthening of human circadian rhythms by lithium carbonate, a prophylactic for depressive disorders - PubMed (original) (raw)

Period lengthening of human circadian rhythms by lithium carbonate, a prophylactic for depressive disorders

A Johnsson et al. Int J Chronobiol. 1983.

Abstract

The effect of lithium carbonate on the circadian system of man was studied. Four out of eight volunteers living without time cues in isolated huts in the arctic showed a lengthening of the periods of the body temperature rhythm, activity rhythm, and sleep/wakefulness rhythm by c. 1 h. Four of the participants did not show a change in the periods between the placebo and lithium ingestion phases. Two subjects who did not receive lithium salt showed internal desynchronization between the temperature rhythm and the sleep/wakefulness rhythm. Extreme isolation in bunkers is not necessary to allow free running of the circadian system in man. The sleep/wakefulness rhythm, which is very easy to record, was a reliable indicator of the circadian system in the internally-synchronized state.

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