Neuroscience Explains How and Why Humans Should Hibernate a Little in Winter 

With the year coming to an end and temperatures dropping in much of the Northern Hemisphere, you might be feeling the urge to gather some loved ones, curl up at home, and laze about doing not much of anything for a while. If togetherness and (semi-) hibernation appeals to you this time of year, you’re not alone. The instinct to gather and snooze is widespread in the animal kingdom. 

Voles in Mongolia “form small huddling groups of around four in the nesting chambers,” while Canadian “red-sided garter snakes congregate in communal, overwintering dens, sometimes by the thousand,” ecologist Anna Champneys offers as two examples among many.

Banding together and taking it easy helps animals conserve heat, hook up, spot predators, and pool their food-finding resources. Which is a strong reason to get together and chill if you’re a rook or a hare. 

But what about the human urge to gather and rest this time of year? Does it also have evolutionary advantages? And perhaps most important for entrepreneurs feeling low on energy right now, is that a good excuse to give into your urge to hibernate? Yup, replies one neuroscientist. 

Humans have a biological urge to hibernate too 

Millions and millions of years of evolution separate us from garter snakes and voles. But all those eons aren’t enough to erase the ancient impulse to hibernate completely, explains neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff in the newsletter of the company she founded, Ness Labs. 

“December hits and suddenly you feel like you’re running on half-battery, even though your to-do list hasn’t gotten the memo. While everyone around you is pushing to ‘finish strong,’ you know it’s time to slow down,” she relatably writes. 

You might think the issue is laziness or end-of-year burnout, but “you’re actually responding to a biological rhythm that humans have followed for centuries, even if modern life tries to push against it,” she continues. 

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