Circadian rhythms, chronotypes, and adaptive decision-making: Neurobiological and behavioral perspectives

In an era shaped by flexible work schedules, AI-assisted decision environments, and rising cognitive fatigue, understanding how biological rhythms influence decision-making has become critically relevant.

Decision-making is a multifaceted process subject to a wide array of influences, with psychology, neuroscience, and social sciences each contributing critical perspectives. Yet, while contemporary studies have addressed social, psychological, and environmental factors, the role of internal biological timing, specifically chronotypes, remains underexamined.
Chronotypes, or individual differences in preferred activity times, influence peaks in alertness, arousal, and emotion regulation, with downstream effects on cognitive and attentional performance. As a result, early-type (morning) and late-type (evening) individuals may exhibit substantial differences in decision accuracy, speed, and risk tolerance depending on time of day, fatigue, and how well their environment aligns with their biological rhythm.

Gaps remain in both mechanistic understanding and translational application, particularly regarding how circadian alignment (or misalignment) impacts judgment accuracy, risk tolerance, and fatigue in high-demand settings. Everyday decisions, including consumer and lifestyle choices, may serve as accessible, real-world models for understanding circadian influences on motivation, impulsivity, and perceived risk.

This Research Topic aims to bridge chronobiology and decision neuroscience, reframing current models by integrating the influence of circadian biology and chronotypes into the cognitive and neural processes behind decision performance. We seek to clarify how inter-individual differences in biological timing modulate neural, cognitive, and behavioral facets of decision performance across diverse domains, from laboratory settings and animal models to real-world professional, clinical, consumer and political environments.

Key questions to be addressed include:

i. How do early and late chronotypes differ in their susceptibility to fatigue and risk during decision-making?

ii. What neural circuits underpin time-of-day effects on impulse control and cognitive flexibility?

iii. How might tools and organizational practices be adapted to account for chronotype diversity for better outcomes?

This Research Topic calls for interdisciplinary research to understand how biological rhythms and chronotypes, modulate decision performance, with emphasis on real-world translational relevance. The aim is to better inform individual, clinical, consumer, and organizational outcomes in high-stakes and high-fatigue environments.

Studies will explore tasks tapping into impulsivity (e.g., delay discounting, Go/No-Go), risk tolerance (e.g., Iowa Gambling Task), temporal discounting, and intolerance to delay or uncertainty. Studies using neurobiological techniques (e.g., EEG, fMRI, eye-tracking), hormonal and biomarker indicators (e.g., DLMO), and chronobiological assessments in real-world contexts are particularly encouraged.

We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to:

• Neurobiological mechanisms linking chronotype and decision-making
• Effects of chronotype and time-of-day on impulsivity, risk-taking, and temporal discounting using behavioral tasks (e.g., Iowa Gambling Task, BART, Go/No-Go)
• Circadian misalignment, decision fatigue, and performance decline in professional contexts
• Methodological innovations in assessing chronotype and circadian phase in field settings (e.g., actigraphy, melatonin profiling, ambulatory neuroimaging)
• Translational and comparative research using animal models to model chronobiological effects on cognitive control
• AI-augmented decision systems that adapt to user circadian profiles
• Chronotype impacts on clinical outcomes and medical decision-making
• Chronobiology in strategic and crisis decision-making (e.g., political or emergency scenarios)
• Circadian preferences in consumer choice and lifestyle decisions.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: impulsivity, chronobiology, decision-making, chronotype, motivation, risk tolerance

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.