Does The Biological Clock Work The Level Of Alertness?

A rhythm is something that is regularly repeated. All living organisms experience rhythmic changes which tend to coincide with seasonal or daily environmental changes. Most organisms have an internal biological clock called endogenous pacemakers, which are influences by external environmental factors called exogenous zeitgebers, these control periodic changes. The sleep wake cycle is a circadian rhythm that repeats itself every 24 hours. However these can become desynchronised, resulting in a disruption of your biological rhythm. It can be disrupted by many factors, including Jet lag and shift work.

Scientifically related, on 24 hours time the body maintains normal functioning condition by interacting different amplitudes and phases of multitude variables of circadian rhythms of emotional and physiological with each other. For example, when body temperature levels increased during the day, sympathetic nervous-system is highly activated, metabolic rate is rich, alertness is increased, performance is efficient, and physical body is fit; whereas body temperature levels decreases at night, parasympathetic activity is increased, metabolic rate is poor, sleepiness is increased , and performance is inefficiency.

14. Evolutionary theories often emphasize that humans have adapted to their physical environment. One such theory hypothesizes that people should spontaneously follow a 24-hour cycle of sleeping and waking—even if they are not exposed to the usual pattern of sunlight. To test this notion, eight paid volunteers were placed (individually) in a room in which there was no light from the outside and no clocks or other indications of time. They could turn the lights on and off as they wished. After a month in the room, each individual tended to develop a steady cycle. Their cycles at the end of the study were as follows: 25, 27, 25, 23,24, 25, 26, and 25.

Commonly known as Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPD) and other names, is a disorder in which the persons internal body clock is not in sync with the morning-rise evening-sleep pattern of the majority of people. Individuals with this disorder are not able to sleep and wake at the times that are regulated by normal work and school hours. They usually get enough sleep to keep them at a functional level through the day but not enough to be considered “well rested”. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for some sleep disorders to determine the illness. The cause of Delayed Sleep Phase can include a variety of reasons; puberty being one of the main causes, but some people are born with the disorder. The short term and long term effects of this illness is unfortunate for a person’s overall health. Overall cures to this disorder have not been found yet. Doctors have suggested sleeping pills to help or other alternatives. The disorder affects the timing of sleep, peak period of alertness, the core body temperature rhythm, hormonal and other daily cycles.

Circadian rhythms occur every 24 hours; an example of a circadian rhythm is the sleep-waking cycle. We are diurnal animals who are active during the daytime and asleep at night, other animals are nocturnal they are active at night but asleep during the day. The circadian rhythm depends on the interaction of physiological and psychological processes to be tuned into the sleep-waking cycle so energy is provided when needed. As diurnal humans we have a fairly stable sleep pattern with the time we go to sleep and the time we wake up, this consistency suggests an internal mechanism controls sleep, endogenous pacemaker. However, this can be overridden by external factors, exogenous zeitgebers.

I generally tend to go to sleep between 11 pm and 12 am, waking up around 8-9 on my own. When I have to be to work early in the morning, I sometimes rely on an alarm but sometimes my body wakes up on its own and usually go to bed around 10 or 11 pm. I wake up a few times throughout the night normally unless I am extremely tired. According to Myers and Dewall, age and experience can alter the circadian rhythm (2016). I have noticed over the last year my sleeping habits have changed quite a bit. I have started to feel tired later at night and go to sleep later as well. I used to go to sleep around 10 pm but now it’s an hour later than before. My house is normally quiet by 10 pm because my family has gone to sleep. Around that time I go to my

The circadian rhythm is very important in analyzing ones sleep pattern like when they are a sleep pattern like when they are a sleep and when they are awake. One’s normal circadian clock is based on light-dark times over 24 hours.()

McMahon , et al, 2014). Another factor that can play into S.A.D. is melatonin, which helps with sleep and wake cycles. Rosenthal, et al, notes how the pineal gland, the gland that produces melatonin, will react to dark surroundings with drowsiness that can lead people to being lethargic (as cited in Melrose, 2015). When melatonin increases and serotonin decreases, the offset of the proteins can cause circadian rhythms to be disrupted, which is the bodies “24 hour” clock. Researcher Melrose writes that “…circadian rhythms respond to the rhythmic light-dark changes that occur daily and throughout each of the seasons.” (2015). People with S.A.D. disorder normally find that their circadian rhythms are off beat and timed differently with day lengths, for example feeling tired in the middle of the day while being wide awake or feeling wide awake when it would normally be time to sleep.

1. An example of this would be our response to light. We follow a circadian rhythm of being awake in the daytime, and sleeping when it is dark outside.

The biological clock is also known as the circadian rhythm: circa means “around,” and dies means “day” in Latin. It’s defined as a “24-hour cycle and is usually understood as a sleep-wake cycle, which makes us feel sleepy when the sun sets and wakeful when the sun rises”. According to Ph.D. Jim Waterhouse at Liverpool John Moores University, “The body clock so precisely controls our body, disrupting which can have profound implications.” Furthermore, researchers substantiate that it’s also in charge of one’s sleep, hunger, thirst, mental alertness, mood swing, immunity, etc. The biological clock is just a dissimilar facet of time. While physical clocks literally depict the abstract ticking time, body clocks open to a distinct perception of inner-body time, which do not rely on Earth’s rotation but on the reactions among neurons

Chronotype (CT) is part of the circadian routine and it is defined as an individual’s inclination in rise and sleep timing (Horne & Ostberg, 1977). Chronotypes comprise three different groups; morning, intermediate, and evening group (Adal et al, 2012). Specifically, the early group rise and sleep early, while individuals who belong to the evening group rise and sleep later than the morning group, whereas the intermediate group does not follow a specific pattern (Adal et al, 2012). Interestingly, around 40% of the individuals belong to one of the two poles, morning or evening group (Adal et al,

This simply means that the body has a natural clock that runs it. The circadian timing system is no longer a twenty-four hour cycle, but it is just more of an individual timing system (Williams 111). As people have developed and changed, the system is no longer twenty-four hours, but it has become more personalized according to the individual. Circadian rhythms have a large impact on our sleeping patterns and if the system is changed, it can be the beginning cause of sleep deprivation.

Aside from noticing night and day and clocks our body has its own system to tell us when to sleep and when to wake, our circadian rhythm. The human body naturally runs on a twenty five hour clock, so living on a twenty four hour schedule is often hard on the body because it loses an hour each day. On top of this natural loss most people do not get the right amount of sleep each night which can cause a whole host of problems. This is part of

 Jet Lag: internal biological clocks collide with external clocks as a result of moving across several time zones.

The term ‘Shift work’ is usually referred to uniformly divided allocations of the day in which individuals participate alternatively to provide twenty four hour coverage. A shift in sleep schedule conflicts with the body’s natural clock also known as the circadian rhythm into interpreting the time as ‘inappropriate’ and disrupts the homeostatic regulation cycle resulting in poor health outcomes. Fortunately, it is deemed possible to counter unfavourable effects of alternating insomnia and sleepiness through certain practices.