Circadian Rhythm

Circadian Rhythm

Most organisms have a daily biological clock - regulating activity in organism.
1. Known as a circadian rhythm.
Circadian rhythm refers to an observed biological activity that oscillates under constant environment conditions with a period length close to 24 hours.
Jet lag means your rhythm is out of sync.
Affects: Sleep, food intake, body temperature, mood, performance, cortisol (stress), melatonin (sleep hormone).
Melatonin makes you feel sleepy (made in the brain) - regulated by circadian rhythm.
Regulated by exposure to light.
Area is 'SCN' receives input from the optic nerve (as light passes through the eye and passes through SCN).
Acts as an alarm clock to wake organism up.
Accurate measurement of ongoing light throughout day, causes birds to realise whether migration should occur.
Measures day/night length for seasonal changes.

Resource summary

	Created by livmills97 almost 11 years ago