Our body’s physiology operates across multiple timescales simultaneously: milliseconds for action potentials in the brain, to hours and days for circadian rhythms, and weeks for mood trajectories. Yet clinical neuroscience and physiology typically study these timescales in isolation. Our work synthesizes integrated monitoring of human physiology across timescales, from brain oscillations to circadian rhythms. We will present data from EEG to wearable biosensors (heart rate, glucose, physical activity, light exposure, mood tracking) to study patients with seizure and mood disorders, as well as healthy controls. 

A key methodological theme throughout the talk will be on temporal coupling and causal mechanisms, emphasising the use of Bayesian inference in multivariate autoregressive processes to uncover the underpinning latent cyclical structure, and lag-lead relationships. We will reveal how temporal misalignment, e.g. between sleep-wake cycles, behavioural patterns, and circadian phase contributes to pathology. Conversely, restoring temporal coordination may offer novel therapeutic avenues. Our work suggests that "chronophysiology" (understanding physiology through its temporal structure) is essential for personalized medicine and may explain why generic pharmacological interventions often show modest effects while optimally-timed behavioural interventions may prove powerful.