top of page

Your moody brain – Is seasonality to blame?

7pm Tuesday, 31st of October 2017

When you are asked about your mood there are two ends to answering this question – you are either happy or sad, so to speak. Mood is strongly reactive to weather and as the days get shorter and colder with drizzle fog and icy blasts, just about everyone experiences a drop in energy and a dip in mood. Yet, in some people the change is more dramatic and they feel intense sadness, despair, fatigue, disinterest and develop an urge to eat more, which only reverses in spring. Fact is that there is little we can do to change the weather. So it’s important to unravel, how the body reacts to environmental changes for it to change in such unfavourable way. The study of the adaptation of human body functions to daily and seasonal rhythms opens a window into the diverse personal habits (selected perception, sleeping patterns, appetite and diet). Katharina will illustrate, what is required from the body to adjust to seasonal changes appropriately, what causes maladaptation, and what we can learn from this insight to be prepared to seasons of all kind.

Anchor 1

Katharina Wulff (University of Oxford) is a neuroscientist who studies how biological rhythms in humans underpin physiology and behaviour, and how environmental factors such as light (e.g. daylight, indoor LED) influence bodily functions. She also applies her work to problems that people with mental illness face, such as depression, psychotic experiences or anxiety. She is dedicated to sharing her fascination for biological rhythms in communicating scientific discoveries to public audiences.

bottom of page