The Circadian Rhythm, Sleep, and Effects of Sunlight
Hanna M. Maciągiewicz
Wright College
THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM, SLEEP, AND EFFECTS OF SUNLIGHT
Abstract
This paper will demonstrate
The circadian rhythm is a psychological and physical pattern that each human experiences in order to maintain homeostasis. The circadian rhythm can manifest in mental alertness, the sensitivity to pain, various hormone secretions, and most obviously, the sleep-wake cycle. In Latin, circadian rhythm translates to “about” and “day”. Examples of circadian rhythms in action are sensitivity and dullness to pain, fluctuations of body temperatures, the brains most alert and calm state, and degree of sleepiness along with highest
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.
Humans have a natural rhythm of 25 hours of sleep and wakefulness, in order to reset this the brain plays an important role with the suprachiasmatic nucleus which is a cluster of neurons in the medial hypothalamus of the brain. The SCN
Regimented sleep schedule: By sticking with a regimented or strict sleep schedule, your circadian rhythm should adapt. Those with variable sleep schedules may have a circadian rhythm that isn’t aligned with their sleep schedule, thus resulting in all types of physiological chaos. Decreasing this physiological chaos with a good sleep schedule may also reduce the
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.()
Now, how does melatonin was a regulator of the sleep wake cycle in organisms. Well, melatonin works by binding to high affinity receptors in the G-protein coupled receptor superfamily in the brain (Foulkes et al. 1997). The G-protein coupled receptor superfamily are a group of proteins that sense compounds around the outside of the cell and activate inside signal transduction and create cellular responses (Schomerus and Korf 2005). So, this means that the melatonin produced promote circadian
Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder, short for Non-24, is a chronic circadian rhythm disorder that affects people that are completely blind. The circadian rhythms control the body clock and regulate sleep-wake cycle and various other cycles that are critical in the body. In most people, this body clock runs marginally longer than 24 hours. This means that rather than cycle on a 24-hour day, most people’s natural rhythms actually run a bit longer. Whether the cycle runs two minutes or 30 minutes longer, patients with Non-24 have these minutes add up day after day, few days adding to a few more the next. Eventually causing evident changes in one’s body. Their body’s circadian rhythm becomes out of sync from regular day and night cycle.
Circadian rhythm is another sleep disorder that has to do with our body functions. In this case, our body clocks are off, due an internal change or external factors like a change in time zones or regions where a midnight sun occurs during a 24-hour period. Bright lights in a room have a similar effect on sleep.
Circadian rhythm disorder is related with people's biological clock. It means you people find difficulty falling asleep or often keep awake at the sleep time. Actually, you have some problems about sleep disorder.
In another study involving twelve adult participants between the ages of 18-59 who had a diagnosis of Seasonal Affective Disorder, light therapy was found to help correct the natural melatonin secretion cycle (Rice, Mayor, Tucker, & Bielski, 1995). Melatonin is a hormone secreted at nighttime by the pineal gland, and plays a role in human sleep and wake cycles by aiding the process of sleep.
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.
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 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.
Circadian rhythm is a daily cycle of activity that is performed. For example, going to the gym, school, and then work, is a daily cycle, whereas sitting on the couch all day and occasionally driving to the store and back is not. It is doing something with your body, but not over doing it. Stress reduction techniques such as yoga and meditation helps to release energy. And treating insomnia in its early stages helps prevent psychiatric disorders such as depression. The longer you wait to try to cure insomnia the longer and harder it is going to be.
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
Sunlight and shade can have effects on how the way turf grasses and weeds grow in lawns. Sunlight is make ultraviolet radiation, and certain types of UV radiation can cause harm to turf gasses by. Ultraviolet radiation all depends on what wavelengths the turf grasses can handle, the wavelengths average from 400-280nm (Huylenbroeck and Bockstaele, 2001). Turf grasses start to form adaptations to help survive in these conditions, by producing high amounts of chlorophyll, and having other characteristics change to help better preform in the conditions. Shade is also a benefactor when it comes to the turf grasses health. With excessive amounts of shade, objects are preventing the turf to get the nutrients it needs from the sunlight to survive. Without the nutrients the turf will start to obtain smaller roots, reduced shoots, and be introduced to diseases (Busey and Davis, 1991). Shade can also be preventing water access to the turf grass. Types of grass are considered to be shade tolerable like the fine fescues, and the rough bluegrass (Harper, 2013). The conditions of where turf grass is found in order to maintain its health.