Keeping the right time in space: importance of circadian clock and sleep for physiology and performance of astronauts

Jin-Hu Guo; Wei-Min Qu; Shan-Guang Chen; Xiao-Ping Chen; Ke Lv; Zhi-Li Huang; Yi-Lan Wu

doi:10.1186/2054-9369-1-23

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Keeping the right time in space: importance of circadian clock and sleep for physiology and performance of astronauts

PERSPECTIVE | Updated：2026-03-12

- Keeping the right time in space: importance of circadian clock and sleep for physiology and performance of astronauts
- Keeping the right time in space: importance of circadian clock and sleep for physiology and performance of astronauts
- MMR 2014年1卷第3期页码：143-149
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
  2.Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
  3.National Key Laboratory of Human Factors Engineering, China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Beijing 100094, China
  4.State Key Laboratory of Space Medicine Fundamentals and Application, China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Beijing 100094, China
- Author bio：
  
  *: guojinhu@mail.sysu.edu.cn;
  quweimin@fudan.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1186/2054-9369-1-23
  中图分类号：
- 纸质出版：2014-09
- Accepted：
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Keeping the right time in space: importance of circadian clock and sleep for physiology and performance of astronauts[J]. MMR, 2014,1(3):143-149.

Guo et al.:Keeping the right time in space: importance of circadian clock and sleep for physiology and performance of astronauts. Mil Med Res 2014, 1: 23
Keeping the right time in space: importance of circadian clock and sleep for physiology and performance of astronauts[J]. MMR, 2014,1(3):143-149. DOI： 10.1186/2054-9369-1-23.

Guo et al.:Keeping the right time in space: importance of circadian clock and sleep for physiology and performance of astronauts. Mil Med Res 2014, 1: 23 DOI： 10.1186/2054-9369-1-23.

摘要

Abstract

The circadian clock and sleep are essential for human physiology and behavior; deregulation of circadian rhythms impairs health and performance. Circadian clocks and sleep evolved to adapt to Earth’s environment

which is characterized by a 24-hour light–dark cycle. Changes in gravity load

lighting and work schedules during spaceflight missions can impact circadian clocks and disrupt sleep

in turn jeopardizing the mood

cognition and performance of orbiting astronauts. In this review

we summarize our understanding of both the influence of the space environment on the circadian timing system and sleep and the impact of these changes on astronaut physiology and performance.

关键词

Keywords

references

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