Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Biology is not constant but highly rhythmic. This includes the fast rhythms of action potentials in the nervous system and the pulsatile release of hormones. At a longer timescale are the daily (circadian) rhythms and annual rhythms observed across much of the biological world. This talk considers the mechanisms and importance of circadian rhythms to human health and the role of seasonal timing in reproduction and other phenomena in birds, mammals and humans. In science, timing is everything.
Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience and the Head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology in Oxford. He has featured widely in print and broadcast media on the subject of sleep and circadian rhythms and is the author of several popular books on the subject.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Biology is not constant but highly rhythmic. This includes the fast rhythms of action potentials in the nervous system and the pulsatile release of hormones. At a longer timescale are the daily (circadian) rhythms and annual rhythms observed across much of the biological world. This talk considers the mechanisms and importance of circadian rhythms to human health and the role of seasonal timing in reproduction and other phenomena in birds, mammals and humans. In science, timing is everything.
Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience and the Head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology in Oxford. He has featured widely in print and broadcast media on the subject of sleep and circadian rhythms and is the author of several popular books on the subject.
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
