A new study has found that our perceptual ability, that is the circadian fluctuation in performing simple motor tasks, fine skilled movement, and anaerobic exercise, is highest at 6'o clock in the evening.
Many previous chronobiological studies have reported on detection of circadian cycle, but literature concerning variation of sensory function is lacking.
Therefore, Yong Hyun Kwon and co-workers from Yeungnam University College of Science and Technology in Republic of Korea observed and compared the circadian fluctuations in tactile sense, joint reposition sense and two-point discrimination in 21 healthy adult subjects at approximately 9:00, 13:00 and 18:00 in a day.
The distribution of ranking for perceptual ability was significantly different among the three different time points in each individual, with highest perceptual ability in the evening compared with noon and morning, in terms of tactile sense and two-point discrimination.
The study was published in the Neural Regeneration Research.