Relationship between circadian rhythm and brain cognitive functions

Abstract

Circadian rhythms are considered a masterstroke of natural selection, which gradually increase the adaptability of species to the Earth’s rotation. Importantly, the nervous system plays a key role in allowing organisms to maintain circadian rhythmicity. Circadian rhythms affect multiple aspects of cognitive functions (mainly via arousal), particularly those needed for effort-intensive cognitive tasks, which require considerable top-down executive control. These include inhibitory control, working memory, task switching, and psychomotor vigilance. This mini review highlights the recent advances in cognitive functioning in the optical and multimodal neuroimaging fields; it discusses the processing of brain cognitive functions during the circadian rhythm phase and the effects of the circadian rhythm on the cognitive component of the brain and the brain circuit supporting cognition.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

circadian rhythm / cognition / optical neuroimaging / multimodal neuroimaging

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by MYRG2019-00082-FHS and MYRG2018-00081-FHS Grants from the University of Macau, as well as FDCT 025/2015/A1 and FDCT 0011/2018/A1 Grants from the Macau Government.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-021-1090-y and is accessible for authorized users.

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