PSYC 280 Final: CH10 BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS AND SLEEP

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 280
• Professor: Neil Watson

Document Summary

Biological rhythms: a regular fluctuation in any living process. Circadian rhythms: a pattern of behavioral biochemical, or physiological fluctuation that has a 24-hour period. Ultradian: a rhythmic biological event with a period shorter than a day, usually from several minutes to several hours long (eg feeding, hormone release) Infradian: a rhythmic biological event with a period longer than a day (menstrual cycle, mating and breeding) 3 dimensions of simple oscillations: frequency, amplitude, phase. Earth cycles represent a small range of possible biological rhythms. Adaptions of body and mind: sleep-wake, temperature, growth hormone, cortisol, potassium. Endogenous with a period of 24 hours. Entrainable to external cues (zeitgebers) temperature compensated (q-10 coefficient, a measure of the rate of change of a biological or chemical system as a consequence of increasing the temperature by 10 c. ) Humans are diurnal, but most other mammals are nocturnal (biological clock)