Being A 'Morning Person' Has Genetic Basis: Study

Waking up early comes naturally to most people and a new study has found the reason behind it. The findings, published Tuesday in the open-access journal Nature Communications, suggest that there might be a genetic basis for waking up early or staying in bed until noon.

The study from the genomics company 23andMe attempts an answer to this strange behaviour. The researchers looked at the DNA of 89,283 customers who agreed to have their genetic information used in the study, reports Gizmodo. The researchers also asked sleeping preferences and proclivities of the customers.

To figure out which regions of the human genome are associated with being a morning or evening person, the researchers analyzed each customer's answered in relation to their genome. This is, by far, one of the largest genome-wide association studies of its kind.

Until recently, most of the works done on being an early riser based on genetics were conducted in fruit flies or mice, reports The Verge. In one study conducted last year, scientists found that around 80 genes can influence whether a fly prefers to be active in the morning or later in the day. Now, 23andMe may figure it out how it works in humans.

Researchers have identified 15 regions of the human genome that influence the early bird traits. They found that seven of the 15 regions were close to genes involved in our circadian rhythms -- the physical, behavioural and mental changes that align with a 24-hour cycle. While each genetic variant may have minimal effect, together, the 15 genes form an early bird profile of genetic traits.

In the survey conducted, they found that 56 percent of the participants considered themselves night owl, reports PRN Newswire. Women and adult over the age of 60 are more likely to be a morning person. The morning persons are less likely to have insomnia and require more than eight hours of sleep each day. They were also found to have lower tendencies for depression compared to individuals who reported being night owls.

Gizmodo added that morning persons are more likely to hook up with night owls. A child also has higher chances of being a morning person if his or her father is a morning person.

After taking account the effect of age and sex, the researchers found that morning persons mostly have lower BMI. They also found an association between the FTO gene, which is associated with obesity, and being a morning person.

These findings may prove useful for future studies of circadian rhythms and sleep-related disorders. It can hopefully pave the way to improved interventions for sleep orders, depression and obesity.

However, researchers admit there are limitations to their study. They relied on self-reported and correlated data. The researchers did not consider geographic locations or the season which participants answered the question. Hopefully, these can be taken into account in follow-up studies.

Here's a bonus clip on how to sleep early at night: