Every person, animal, living creature has body functions that are controlled by internal cycles. Many of their functions are controlled differently than others. Most that function on circadian rhythms tend to be less active during the night and more active during the day. For example, many “species are remarkably diverse and flexible in their daily activity patterns, including a spectrum of diurnal, day-active, to nocturnal, night-active” (Phillips 2013). Birds fly, eat, etc. during the day and sleep at night. Then again there is the owl which is the opposite. They sleep during the day and perform actively during the night. Likewise, humans function on circadian rhythms like many animals. “Our bodies are verified to have a regulatory mechanism …show more content…
This is because during the day everyone is active and at sleep well everyone’s is resting (Fig. 1). The highest heartbeat was 74.82 during the day at 6pm and the lowest heartbeat was 64.55 at 4am. In the eye-hand coordination exercise students took longer in the morning and were faster in the middle of the day (Fig. 2). The longest time was 9.41 seconds at 6am and the fastest time was at 4pm and took 6.56 seconds. Also the amount of mistakes done by students in this same exercise was a little alike to the previous observation (Fig. 3). The most mistakes were done at 6am with 1.23 mistakes and the least mistakes were done at 12pm, 1pm and 12am with only .41 mistakes. Finally, in the adding exercise students adding skills were slower in the middle of the night and faster in the afternoon (Fig. 4). The slowest time taken to add was 69.91 at 4am and the fastest time taken was 55.99 at …show more content…
Circadian rhythm mainly presents in sleeping, feeding patterns and other activities. These patterns will be disturbed when circadian rhythms changes (Guo 2013). For example, in the eye-hand coordination exercise students took longer in the night and were faster during the day (Fig. 2). This is reinforced by studies (Boudreau 2013) that show how people work less efficiently when circadian rhythms are interrupted. In addition, in the adding speed function (Fig. 4), students performed slower at night but gradually faster during the day. This is supported (Phillips 2013) in where everyone is remarkably diverse and flexible in their daily activity
Sleep is one of our basic needs to survive and to function in day to day operations, but not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. Some people can survive on very little sleep, i.e. five hours a night, and some people need a lot of sleep, to the extend that they are sleeping up to 10 to sometimes 15 hours a night (Nature, 2005). According to Wilson (2005) the general rule states that most people need from seven to eight hours of sleep. The deprivation of sleep in our society in continually increasing with the demands in society increasing work loads, the myth that a few hours of sleep is only necessary to function properly and that sleep is sometimes considered as killing time (Nature, 2005). Sometimes sleep deprivation is also caused by other situations like sleep disorders, i.e. sleep apnea, chronic insomnia or medical conditions such as stress (Wilson, 2005).
There are many ways in which scientists and researchers try to understand the molecular uniqueness and physiology of living organisms. One of these ways is the Circadian clock, this clock transfers the physiology and behaviors of mammalians into rhythms that are coordinated with the 24hr solar system. This system can be affected by environmental factors such as the food, temperature and parasites. The circadian rhythms play a role in gene expression to produce protein. Gene expression is displayed through the central dogma of (DNA RNA protein). How the clock work with the 24hr solar day is that it allows gene expression every 24hr to tell when a physiological process is most active. And any damage made to the DNA is more effective
The body and brain are changing machines, where states of consciousness shift with zealous nature to allow our human anatomy to flourish. Schedules of the circadian rhythm function differently for everyone yet, is an important part of functioning for the human anatomy/mind. For the average person, however, the cycles we go through usually speak for a sleep rotation. But sometimes, even with these measured rituals, we find ourselves at a loss when we realize how fragile our circadian rhythm can be, caused by "insomnia," " jet-lag, " or even "weekend-lag."
Fatigue and sleepiness is a concern both in and out of the medical field. Humans who work at night often experience disruptions of circadian rhythms. Working for extended periods of time can cause degradation of memory, inattentiveness, and poor coordination. Recently, an oil tanker ran aground near Rhode Island while being piloted by a captain who had not slept within 36 hours. In Pedro, Wyo, an engineer and brakeman on a train fell asleep and plowed into another train (Moore-Ede). These conditions ...
Every college student experiences it: that moment of deep regret when they realize that they took “Thirsty Thursday” a bit to the extreme and Friday comes along and they feel as though it is impossible to wake up for that early morning class. Not to worry though because there is a life-saving nectar invented specifically for this circumstance -- or so most college students think at least -- and this nectar is none other than coffee. This notorious cycle is repeated by most college students most weeks and few actually consider how this cycle is actually affecting not just their current state but also their entire physiology as well. One physiological cycle that is greatly being affected that most students do not even know about is the circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythms are a nearly twenty four hour cycle that controls the physiological, behavioral, and mental qualities. These qualities range from locomotors activity, which means it can affect coordination and muscle strength throughout the day. Also, the release of hormones is circadian driven, for example, melatonin, which when released causes the feeling of sleepiness. Even hunger is controlled by the body’s rhythmic clock. The key to identifying how the average college students’ circadian rhythm is affected is by observing their sleep pattern. As mentioned, circadian rhythms affect the release of melatonin, known as the sleepy hormone because this hormone’s release induces sleep. By having cues that advance or delay the circadian clock then directly corresponds and affects the physiological cycles of the circadian rhythm and thereby affects sleep. Other than drug induced cues, there are numerous other factors that affect the circadian rhythm as well. The primary and most influ...
Students and teachers both have issues with school hours and both of their sleep patterns are negatively influenced by the morning shift. Even though they are at school around the same tim...
When looking at human performance, deprivation of sleep is found to be an area much researched, due to its negative emotional effects said to cause a heightening of emotions such as depression, and a decrease in self control along with an increase in hostility (Christian & Ellis, 2011; Barnes & Hollenbeck, 2009). During Dotto’s experiences while deprived of sleep, Dotto was recorded showing negative emotional effects expected of a sleep deprived individual. These effects were the feeling of depression, frustration, irritation and annoyance (Dotto, 2000). It was also recorded that Dotto’s temper seemed to increase throughout the study showing a heightening of emotion correlating with a lack of sleep (Dotto, 2000). Deprivation of sleep is defined
Heart disease: The Nurses’ Health Study proved that women who slept 9-11 hours per night were 38% more likely to have coronary heart disease as compares to women who slept 8 hours.
Sleeping is a complex process that greatly affects an individual’s well-being. There exists within each person a natural body clock which allows one to operate at a 24 hour cycle. In relevance, the body clock iswhat instinctively determines the cycle of sleep and awake time of a person. This relates to sleep because the issues that affect one’s body clock has a connection ...
The idea of phase advance and delay were first proposed by Aschoff and Pittendrigh (1960), but subsequent genetic studies have shown exact genes involved in phase delay and advance occurs due to over or under production of proteins as described in dorsophilia studies. Many knock out studies have shown that disruption of genes involve in circadian rhythm have created arrythmicity in animals. Low-Zeddies and Takahashi (2001), created clock mutants which were arrhythmic when exposed to dark condition. The period of clock mutants were greater when compared to wildtype mice. The mutant also showed higher phase-shifts hours and lower circadian amplitude.
While points, claims, and statistics may be found within all of the sources used for the research, the sheer amount of referenced studies and works within the “Sleep-Wake” paper lends weight to it’s usefulness as a reliable source. One of the otherfactor of sleep and its affect within the college community. Three sources varying in criteria and usefulness were found that related to this subject and were studied. sources, “College Students try to Cheat Sleep Needs”, a college newspaper, offers basic facts and elementary assumptions such that could be found within any biology textbook or encyclopedia. These references are to such things as sleep cycles and sub stages and the general consequences of an out of balance sleep cycle. The study from the Biological Rhythm Research writers, however, hints at previous studies and findings that “several factors, such as social and academic demands, part-time jobs, [...] affect the sleep-wake cycle of college students.” but then only states the findings of a particular study, and does so in...
Important public policy issues have arisen in our modern 24-hour society, where it is crucial to weigh the value of sleep versus wakefulness. Scientific knowledge about sleep is currently insufficient to resolve the political and academic debates raging about how much and when people should sleep. These issues affect almost everybody, from the shift worker to the international traveler, from the physician to the policy maker, from the anthropologist to the student preparing for an exam.
Tsui, Y., & Wing, Y. (2009). A study on the sleep patterns and problems of university business students in Hong Kong. Journal of American College Health, 58(2), 167-176.
With the mentor Rekha Balachandran, her research project is astonishing to me due to the concentration on circadian rhythm. As my background in psychology and biology, I have acknowledged that circadian rhythm is known to play a significant role in human physiological wellness. Disruption in circadian rhythm could affect metabolism poorly with the involvement of eating disorder as well as difficulties in storing information in short-term memory; improper functioni...
What research has told us is that sleep is relegated by an internal time clock or what the experts call the circadian cycle. First circadian comes from two Latin words circa: about and dia: day. All the various bodily function cycle that occur during the day are related to our circadian cycle. Since the time of Aristotle and Hippocrates these cycles have been recognized. Our sleep/wake cycles is one of the best known bodily functions to show circadian rhythms, and even our vital signs are directly linked to this cycle. As technology advances we gain more precise measurements, allowing researchers to recognize more circadian cycles which in turn teach us how our bodies work and function. On an interesting note it has been found that bone length is linked to and show a circadian cycle.