Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Chronic 'jet lag' produces temporal lobe atrophy and spatial cognitive deficits

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

From Nature Neuroscience

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Abstract

Time-zone travelers encounter a pattern of light and darkness, and their endogenous circadian rhythms adapt to the new external time cue until both timing systems synchronize1, but the long-term repeated disturbance of synchronization between the two timing systems impairs physiological and psychological health and induces stress2. Salivary cortisol levels in cabin crew after repeated exposure to jet lag were significantly higher than after short distance flights3, and the higher cortisol levels were associated with cognitive deficits that were dependent on non-semantic stimuli3. The present study demonstrates that significant prolonged cortisol elevations produce reduced temporal lobe volume and deficits in spatial learning and memory; these cognitive deficits became apparent after five years of exposure to high cortisol levels.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1: A series of four coronal MRI slices.
Figure 2: Two flight attendant groups were compared to assess the volume of the temporal lobe and visual spatial cognitive performance.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Deacon, S. & Arendt, J. Physiol. Behav. 59, 665–673 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Winget, C. M., DeRosha, C. W., Markley C. L. & Holley, D. C. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 55, 1085–1096 (1984).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Cho, K., Ennaceur, A., Cole, J. C. & Suh, C. H. J. Neurosci. 20 (RC66), 1–5 (2000).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Porter, N. M. & Landfield, P. W. Nat. Neurosci. 1, 3–4 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lupien, S. L. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 1, 69–73 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Newcomer, J. W. et al. Arch. Gen. Psych. 56, 527–533 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Abrahams, S. et al. Brain Cogn. 41, 39–65 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Sapolsky, R. Stress, the Aging Brain, and the Mechanisms of Neuron Death (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Nunn, J. A., Graydon, F. J. X., Polkey, C. E. & Morris, R. G. Brain 122, 47–59 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Squire, L. R., Amaral, D. G. & Press, G. A. J. Neurosci. 10, 3106–3117 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Brown, M. W. & Aggleton, J. P. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 2, 51–61 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Lupien, S. L. et al. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 82, 2070–2075 (1997).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Supported by the Royal Society. I thank M.W. Brown, C.H. Suh, M.K. Lim and S. Fitzjohn for their help with statistics and MRI analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, MRC Centre for Synaptic Plasticity, Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK

    Kwangwook Cho

Authors
  1. Kwangwook Cho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kwangwook Cho.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cho, K. Chronic 'jet lag' produces temporal lobe atrophy and spatial cognitive deficits. Nat Neurosci 4, 567–568 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/88384

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/88384

  • Springer Nature America, Inc.

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation