Circadian Rhythms

Tomas Izquierdo has not slept since 1945. Due to an attack of encephalitis, an inner brain inflammation, his ability to fall asleep was lost at the age of 13. Although he rests with his eyes closed, his brain patterns are those of someone who is fully awake and aware. He has memory problems and very sensitive eyes, but is otherwise completely normal. To relax, he usually uses transcendental meditation from about three or four AM until the morning (Coleman 94).

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.

Researching sleep is difficult for a variety of reasons. The first reason for difficulty is the nature of experimentation. To truly isolate the sleep patterns, all time-giving cues, or zietgebers, have to be eliminated. Light, electromagnetic waves, the schedules of researchers, and even the growth of a facial hair on outsiders may lead the subject to guess the time of day. The body can detect even the faintest cues of time, so it is incredibly important that the subject be completely shut off from time giving cues. If the subject of the research knows the time of day, he or she may adjust accordingly, skewing results and making it all but impossible to collect the data needed.

Another reason for the difficulty of sleep research is the pace of discovery. The field moves too fast for its own good. As a result, no comprehensive beginner’s text is available in the field of circadian rhythms. By the time...

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... a part of their brain known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN, gets smaller. The SCN is the primary pacemaker for most circadian functions in the brain. It is responsible for the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. As the SCN decreases in size, less melatonin is produced, causing a shift in sleep patterns. The drop in melatonin, just as in SAD patients, can cause restlessness. In order to counteract this melatonin loss, many of the elderly sit in front of light boxes, just like the SAD patients, at the end of the day for a few hours (Center for Biological).

Circadian rhythms are part of the daily lives of humans. They cue our levels of alertness, our need for sleep, and our time of waking. To better understand these rhythms, scientists from around the globe have participated in difficult research for years. As of yet, the research shows that light, hormones, exercise, age, and a variety of other factors are important in determining circadian rhythms. Perhaps in the future, scientists will be able to manipulate circadian rhythms so that people no longer feel fatigue. By then, maybe Tomas Izquierdo could finally get some long overdue sleep.