PSYC 388 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Mood Disorder, Light Therapy, Seasonal Affective Disorder
16 Nov 2020
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Document Summary
European squirrel burrows into underground next in dry grassland steppe of hungarian puszta & does not emerge until mid-morning. Photic environment similar to that which we humans have created for ourselves. Many of us like squirrel seldom see dawn/dusk yet squirrel"s biological clock somehow manages to use whatever daytime outdoor light it sees to synchronize activity & reproduction & hibernation - to changing daylength of the season. We use artificial light to extend our period of wakefulness & activity into evening hours & short sleep schedule which consolidates sleep efficiently at night. Nowadays, we generally receive less light in total during day than european squirrel. While humans have increasingly insulated themselves from natural cycles of light & darkness, human circadian pacemaker has conserved capacity to detect seasonal changes in daylength. For many of us, means there is price to pay for our artificial environment. Sad - seasonal affective disorder - mood disorder involving recurrent autumn/winter depression.
