As I have stated before in other posts sitting in the dark is the best method of coping for me. When I feel anxious or just want to feel a bit normal I just sit in the dark and do nothing. Yes, boring but effective for me. I was wondering why is that. From research we know that allopregnanolone levels are low in people with pfs. So I was trying to find something regarding allopregnanolone and day-night cycle. And I found this article (https://elifesciences.org/articles/45306) stating
To investigate whether light conditions are involved in pineal ALLO synthesis in newly hatched male chicks, the chicks were incubated under either a 12 hr light–12 hr dark (LD) cycle, constant light (LL), or a 12 hr light–12 hr dark cycle followed by exposure to light for 1 hr from zeitgeber time (ZT) 14 (light-at-night) for 1 week. The mRNA expression of 5α-reductase (srd5a), a steroidogenic enzyme catalyzing the formation of ALLO, showed a marked diurnal change and was high during dark times (ZT16) in the pineal glands of LD chicks (Figure 1a). In contrast to the LD chicks, the LL chicks showed consistently low srd5a mRNA levels in the pineal glands
However, the influence of light-at-night on the production of pineal ALLO has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that light-at-night-induced circadian disruption abolished the diurnal rhythm of pineal ALLO synthesis. In addition, the disruption of diurnal variations of pineal ALLO-induced Purkinje cell death in the developing cerebellum of chicks. These results suggest that the disruption of diurnal variations of pineal ALLO causes a constant low level of pineal ALLO synthesis, which induces the death of Purkinje cells during development.
I feel a subtle but noticeable effect when I sit in the dark. Is this because of rising allo levels in the brain ,less stimulation or does it have another explanation. Who knows. It is a shame that there is no constant dark group in the study. Maybe allo levels would rise further than dark light cycle.
And can somebody explain what they mean with the zeitgeber time below please?
or a 12 hr light–12 hr dark cycle followed by exposure to light for 1 hr from zeitgeber time (ZT) 14 (light-at-night) for 1 week.