| ISLAMABAD: Frequent traveling may be glamorous, but making it a habit can take a toll on your brain, recent study findings suggest. According to the latest research, the right temporal lobe, a part of the brain involved in memory, is smaller in frequent flyers who cross multiple time zones and have only 5 days of rest before crossing time zones again. The flyers were compared with workers who crossed multiple time zones but had 14 days of recovery--generally working flights that did not cross time zones in that time--before taking another flight around the world. What's more, the researchers observed an association between reduced volume of the right temporal lobe and high levels of the stress hormone cortisol in frequent flyers. A previous study by the investigators found that flyers subjected to repeated jet lag had higher levels of cortisol, as well as impaired memory. However study author Dr. Kwangwook Cho of the University of Bristol in the UK says more research is needed to determine whether the damage is permanent or just a temporary side effect of working such schedules. It is also not clear if giving the body more time to recover could prevent the problem, or exactly why crossing time zones may cause a change in brain volume. Adjusting to different time zones can disrupt the circadian rhythm--the internal clock that regulates when we sleep--causing the groggy feeling known as jet lag. "The findings of the present study...suggest that jet lag recovery period may be a potential way to eliminate the temporal lobe atrophy associated with repeated jet lag," Cho and colleagues conclude. Past studies of people with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder have shown that high levels of cortisol are associated with a reduction in temporal lobe volume, as well as memory impairment. | 