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
Harrington, J. M. (2001). Health Effects of Shift Work and Extended Hours of Work. OEM Education. Retrieved on December 3, 2013, from http://oem.bmj.com/content/58/1/68.full. doi: 10.1136.oem.58.1.68
Circadian rhythms are endogenous and self sustaining in all animals and plants. These rhythms are present in the absence of environment clues such as light, temperature and social clues. In absence of clues, animals free run in constant darkness due to programmed genetic interactions. Some of the genes involve in this processes are Per, Clock and Cry. The expressions of these genes are tightly regulated at molecular level by proteins which bind to promoters and repressors to create a rhythm throughout the day. For example, bmal and clock bind to ebox region to produce cry and mper proteins (Hong and Chong, 2007). These proteins are concentration dependant which means high level binds to repressor region to avoid further transcription. Such oscillations work on close to 24 hour cycle in animals and plants. These processes occur without any environmental clues. In case the environment clues are introduced to animals, they tend to synchronize internal clock with external signals. One such example of synchronization is shown in dorsophilia which increase Tim protein at night and the presence of external light decrease the production of Tim protein. This results into phase delay in dorsophilia (Leuloup and Goldbeter, 2001).
Tomas Izquierdo is what one might call someone without circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are the daily sleep patterns of humans. Circadian rhythms tell people when they are most alert, when they feel tired, and when they should wake up. These circadian rhythms, while difficult to research, are important to many industries, as well as a multitude of sleep disorder patients. For several years, scientists and doctors have been seeking a greater understanding of these patterns through constant, difficult, and fast paced research. The applications of such knowledge would be quite beneficial in shift based industries as well as some special circumstances. As of yet, doctors have been able to determine a few important correlations between internal time cues and sleep, activities or events that give cues to the brain about what time it is or should be. However, the research is very difficult.
Our bodies rely on two different things to let our bodies know when we need to be asleep. One is called the circadian rhythm, which is the physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a twenty four hour cycle, that revolves around the light and dark of the day. Basically, our bodies are like our own little clocks which are controlled by a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic
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...
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...
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).
The authors and scientists from a different study by the U.S National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health on long and short-term sleep deprivation state directly that “in certain jobs, people face sleep restriction. Some professions such as health care… require working at night. In such fields, the effect of acute total sleep deprivation (SD) on performance is crucial” (Alhola & Polo-Kantola, Sleep deprivation: Impact on cognitive performance). Depending on their schedule, nurses can often be susceptible to sleep deprivation and are no exception, especially if they are working long hours. The study performed research on how acute and chronic sleep deprivation can affect the brain and how it can slow down or worsen thought process and rationality throughout the day for working adults. The authors also explain that “motor function, rhythm, receptive and expressive speech, and memory ...deteriorated after one night of SD.” (Alhola and Polo-Kantola, Sleep deprivation: Impact on cognitive performance) Although everybody is affected by a lack of sleep differently, some might have the ability to handle it a lot better than others, but it is fair to say that no one can perform their jobs perfectly if their brains are being affected by sleep deprivation. This organization concludes this study by explaining that there is still much research that needs to be
Sleeping is something that is an essential part of human nature and is a must in order for one to be a functional human being. Sleep is an idea that is accompanied by many wives’ tales, including the ideas that one needs seven to eight hours of sleep each night and alcohol helps one fall asleep and sleep more soundly. One myth about sleep is that during sleeping, one is in a state of nothingness. In truth, however, it has been discovered that during sleep the brain is active, variations in heartbeat and breathing occur, and the eyes and ears are active throughout the time of sleep. These activities during a person’s sleep are important because they help that person be more aware, awake, and alert during consciousness. If all of these important activities occur during sleep, why is it that people are so willing to short themselves of this vital activity? Although much about sleep still remains a mystery, research and experiments continue to show how important sleep is to each and every person. Throughout this paper, I will discuss sleep and the effects that it has on performance and health, especially in college students. A college student’s sleeping pattern is a reliable indicator to their level of performance in the classroom and other school-affiliated activities, as a lack of sleep leads to decreased performance. Sleep is directly related the level of performance and health in an individual; the more rested a person is, the better that person will perform and feel (Dryer, 2006).
Today, biological clocks are investigated at a molecular level. This molecular level includes investigating the molecules crucial for brain function, how it influences brain function, how they act as messengers allowing neurons to communicate, how these molecules store past experiences, and more. Zivkovic personally confirms that the biological clock is a structure but explains that scientists also use the term differently, rather than layman’s terms which talks about the physiological clock, such as a “woman’s clock ticking”. He also talks about the complexity of defining a “circadian system”, and that the term “circadian clock” is used instead. We have learnt that through the central visual system, the hypothalamus plays a role in the circadian rhythm.
Introduction Sleep studies have been conducted since as early as 1913. However, the impact of school start times on student academics is often overlooked by most schools. In reality, start times can significantly affect academic performance by disrupting adolescents' normal sleep cycle, leading to a lack of sleep that impairs learning, and hindering academic performance. These theories have been tested through sleep studies, and most of them have been found to be true. Sleep Cycle Changes When children transition from primary school to middle or high school, it can significantly affect their learning due to changes in their sleep cycle.
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.
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.
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.
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.