Stronger Cognitive Control Enables Early Behavioral Rise Independent of Physiological Activation

Individual variation in daily activity timing—chronotype—has been widely linked to health and performance outcomes, yet its neural and physiological underpinnings remain incompletely understood. Using simultaneous wrist accelerometry, photoplethysmography (PPG), and multimodal neuroimaging, we examined how circadian behavioral rhythms relate to autonomic signals and brain network architecture in a deeply phenotyped adult cohort. We found that heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (RMSSD) exhibit strong diurnal structure and reliably lag physical activity by ~2 hours. Notably, individuals with later cardiac acrophase and greater lag between movement and autonomic activation (ACC–IBI lag) showed increased functional connectivity within frontoparietal control networks, suggesting that stronger control network integration enables individuals to override autonomic entrainment by initiating movement in advance of physiological readiness. These findings support a model in which top-down cortical control governs the timing of behavioral activation, indirectly shaping peripheral autonomic rhythms through anticipatory action.