Anxiety, autism, schizophrenia and Tourette syndrome each have their own distinguishing characteristics, but one factor bridging these and most other mental disorders is circadian rhythm disruption, according to a team of neuroscience, pharmaceutical sciences and computer science researchers at the University of California, Irvine.

In an article published recently in the Nature journal Translational Psychiatry, the scientists hypothesize that CRD is a psychopathology factor shared by a broad range of mental illnesses and that research into its molecular foundation could be key to unlocking better therapies and treatments.

“Circadian rhythms play a fundamental role in all biological systems at all scales, from molecules to populations,” said senior author Pierre Baldi, UCI Distinguished Professor of computer science. “Our analysis found that circadian rhythm disruption is a factor that broadly overlaps the entire spectrum of mental health disorders.”

Lead author Amal Alachkar, a neuroscientist and professor of teaching in UCI’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, noted the challenges of testing the team’s hypothesis at the molecular level but said the researchers found ample evidence of the connection by thoroughly examining peer-reviewed literature on the most prevalent mental health disorders.

“The telltale sign of circadian rhythm disruption — a problem with sleep — was present in each disorder,” Alachkar said. “While our focus was on widely known conditions including autism, ADHD and bipolar disorder, we argue that the CRD psychopathology factor hypothesis can be generalized to other mental health issues, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, food addiction and Parkinson’s disease.”

Circadian rhythms regulate our bodies’ physiological activity and biological processes during each solar day. Synchronized to a 24-hour light/dark cycle, circadian rhythms influence when we normally need to sleep and when we’re awake. They also manage other functions such as hormone production and release, body temperature maintenance and consolidation of memories. Effective, nondisrupted operation of this natural timekeeping system is necessary for the survival of all living organisms, according to the paper’s authors.

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