After all, there are 5 types of night owls and early risers. What’s yours?

Forget everything they told you about simply being a “morning person” or a “night owl”: according to a new study, there are 3 ways to be a night owl and 2 ways to be an early riser, and it’s not just about when you go to bed or wake up.

For a long time, researchers divided humanity into two fields simple: those who wake up early and those who sleep late. Either he was a lover, or he hated mornings.

But according to a new one with more than 27,000 participants, recently published in the magazine Nature Communications, This dichotomy is outdated. Instead, researchers have now discovered five different subtypes latent chronype brains.

Each chronotypean individual’s natural and genetically determined propensity to sleep, wake up, and perform better at certain times of the day, brings its own unique cocktail of risks for health and cognitive benefits.

“Instead of asking whether night owls are at greater risk, a better question might be which night owls are most vulnerable and why”, he says The Zhouresearcher at McGill University and lead author of the study. cited by .

To map these hidden biological profiles, researchers turned to two of the world’s largest and most comprehensive biomedical resources: o and o. You can’t just trust what people report about how they sleep, you need to analyze the data.

The UK data, in particular, has proven extremely useful. The data included a vast library of three-dimensional brain scans. Researchers focused on gray matter volume, in the integrity of the “wiring” of the white matter and in the functional connectivity.

To make sense of this mountain of data, they used an artificial intelligence method called regression analysis. Partial Least Squares (PLS).

Unlike a conventional survey, this algorithm simultaneously analyzed the brain architecture and “fingerprints” behavioral, looking for “latent” structures — the places where the physical makeup of the brain and sleep habits effectively overlap.

The results showed 3 ways to be late night and 2 ways to be an early riser. “These subtypes are not defined simply by bedtime or wake-up time. They reflect a complex interaction of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors“, states Danilo Bzdoksenior author of the study,

The Five Types

Researchers describe the following types of people when it comes to their sleeping habits.

• The High Performance Night Owl
  This is the “classic” evening type, who wakes up late, but with a cognitive advantage. Although they often have difficulties with emotional regulation (and often report feeling “fed up” or irritable), they are cognitively insightful.
  Demonstrate faster reaction times and better performance on problem-solving tasks. Their brains show increased gray matter in the limbic system and stronger wiring in attention networks.
• The Vulnerable Night Owl
  This group reveals a darker side of late nights. This subtype is strongly associated with depression, smoking and cardiovascular risks such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
  Unlike the first group, its distinctive feature is a generalized reduction in integrity of the “wiring” of the white matter of the brain.
• The Healthy Early Riser
  This is the classic pattern of positive morning lovers. These individuals get up early, smoke less, drink less and they have almost no serious health problems recorded in their clinical records. They are often more educated and take fewer risks.
• The Female-Dominated Morning Type
  This subtype is predominantly observed in womens. Although they are early risers, they are also more prone to depressive symptoms and menstrual disorders.
  Biologically, this is associated with lower testosterone levels and higher sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels.
• The Male-Dominated Night Owl
  This is clearly an afternoon group dominated by men. These are people who take risks, consume more alcohol and cigarettes and face higher risks of prostate problems and high blood pressure.
  Its profile is marked by higher levels of testosterone.

Why is this important?

To validate these findings, the team analyzed 10,550 North American children from the ABCD Study. Found the same biological patterns in young people, but these can change as people age.

There is a evolutionary logic in this variety. At the beginning of human history, a tribe where everyone slept at the same time it was a tribe waiting to be devoured. We needed “sentinels” active at different times.

The main idea is that we can personalize interventions and medicine for these subtypes. Instead of a “one size fits all” approachwe can now personalize interventions.

For example, a “Vulnerable Night Owl” fighting depression can better respond to intense light therapy to reprogram your biological clock, while a “Female Predominant Morning Type” may need interventions focused on hormonal balance and social support.

Ultimately, the study shows why the “one size fits all” approach to health and productivity is failing — and provides clues about how we can do better.