Is it possible to train your body to become a morning person or a night owl? 

How we feel about our sleep patterns is governed by something called a chronotype, which informs when our body feels most alert and tired. 

On Moncrieff, Maynooth University behavioural neuroscientist Andrew Coogan said there is a huge amount of variation among different people. 

“We exist on this spectrum of what is sometimes known as ‘morning larks’, ‘evening owls’ and everything in between,” he said. 

“Chronotypes are a characteristic; it’s a bit like being tall or shorter - we’re all somewhat different.

“Why we’re different, we’re not too sure.” 

A sleepy woman sitting at a desk. Picture by: Aleksandr Davydov / Alamy.com.

At the extreme ends of the spectrum, some morning people enjoy getting up at 4am, while others loathe getting out of bed before midday. 

But can people change their preference in order to suit a change in lifestyle? 

“So, we think we can make ourselves later by having evening light; that probably has increased in the last generation or so where we have phones and computers,” Mr Coogan said. 

“We can probably shift ourselves more towards the morning by getting more morning light.

“Particularly more morning sunlight - but we can sort of nudge ourselves one way or another. 

“Most of it is probably inbuilt into how we are; it’s in our biological makeup - so, it is modifiable but to an extent.” 

A man asleep at his office desk. Picture by: Mauritius Images GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo.

However, Mr Coogan warned that in general it can be pushed “a little either way”. 

“You’re never going to switch from an extreme evening time to an extreme morning type - or the other way around,” he said. 

“But we could probably nudge it an hour or so in each direction.”

Main image: A man waking up in his bedroom. Picture by: Alamy.com