Psychology: Circadian Rhythm - Article Example

Psychology: Circadian rhythm Circadian Rhythms Circadian rhythm can be described as the body’s clock. Its main function is to regulate the body’s hormonal and chemical synthesis and metabolism round a 24 hour cycle. This helps an individual sleep at the time for sleeping and likewise become active when the time is right for that. This type of regulation keeps the body busy working and at the same time resting when it requires it. The most critical aspect of the circadian rhythm is in the sleep cycle and how much sleep is required. The circadian cycle is approximately 24 hours, though it changes from one individual to another. The body generates circadian rhythm, though external stimuli affect them such as light. For instance while one is asleep and light is shone on them, it rests the circadian rhythm and wakes you up. People with short circadian rhythms are referred to as “morning” since they are wide and wakes up when there is sunshine. Messing up the circadian usually has serious negative effects seen oftenly as jetlag, insomnia, fatigue and disorientation. Rhythms in infants When an infant is born, it usually has challenges in adapting and organizing itself to the new environment. The general process of adaptation mostly takes two developmental stages. The first entails the alteration of periodic behaviours such as the reduction of ultradian rhythms, components and sub-components and subsequent increase in circadian rhythms. This is followed by synchronization of behavioral reactions to external time(Gallagher, Weiner &Nelson,2003).The free running rhythms cause infants to wake briefly on average of 4 to 6 times throughout the night. These awakenings or failure to fall back asleep may occur as often as every 90 to 120 minutes (Gallagher, Weiner &Nelson, 2003).In newborn full term infants, the circadian rhythm of sleep and wake develops gradually, with initial alterations of sleep and waking each lasting for several hours.Nevertheless, the 24 hr sleep-wake rhythm is established by 12 to 16 weeks after birth and becomes synchronized with to the environmental cycle (Gallagher, Weiner & Nelson, 2003). An infant’s sleeping time and how long they sleep is very important. Healthy sleep can be said to be the right amount of time, at the right timing and for the right consolidated length. Thus infant’s sleep should be in synch with the natural circadian rhythm, so that they can get the best restorative sleep available. Biological clocks (internal 24-hour sleep clocks) are genetically controlled. These are the clocks that drive circadian rhythms in infants, and tell them when they should be sleeping. When an infant sleeps in sync with their circadian rhythms, they get the most restorative and quality sleep. Rhythm influences Lights are not the only rhythm that influences the rate of circadian development in premature and full term infants. Current theory suggests that social interaction rhythms provide infants with the structure to form temporal expectancies that organize cognitive and affective experiences. Most important of any social interaction, is the interaction between mother and child. Cycles of attention during mother-infant interaction are representative of social interaction. It has been suggested that periods of non-attention allow the infant to assimilate information received during the attention, or social interaction phase. By making interactions between care and the infant more regular, the predictability of the infant’s behavior increases. This is believed to be due to the theory that social interactions are biologically based rhythms that tend to oscillate around averages to enable prediction of regular environmental events with similar periodicities. Rhythmic coherence has been shown to occur when the mother-infant interaction occurs on a regular basis, but may interrupt rhythm development if the infant is not able to predict interaction. Zeitgebers LD cycle and internal pacemaker Any biological activity that makes regulates itself about 24 hours and keeps this rhythm without any aid from the external environment can be said to be circadian rhythm. The brain’s suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), also called the internal pacemaker, is charged with the regulation of body’s biological rhythms under the influence of a combination of external and internal cues. To keep this going, Zeitgebers usually induces changes in the compositions of molecular components, of the clock to levels in sync with the proper stage in the twenty four cycle process referred to as entrainment. There are several various Zeitgebers and their influence on a human being at any specific time depends on several factors, which may include the presence and functioning of other types of zeitgebers.For instance,Jirgen Aschoff demonstrated that a person can at any particular time, compensate for the lack of some Zeitgebers such as natural light by responding to social Zeitgebers instead.Particularly,people placed in extreme darkness for 4 days did not vary on a number of measures such as temperature of the body and a other different psychomotor functions like estimation of time and tapping of fingers, from those people placed in artificial dark surrounding, when the two groups were allocated similar time schedule. Social interactions with studies Due to human study limitations, it is not possible for scientists to determine if the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), which is the circadian pacemaker in mammals located in the hypothalamus, has developed by birth and is able to respond to light. Therefore, animals such as squirrel monkeys and baboons have been used as models for human infants. It has been determined that, prior to birth, the circadian clock in the SCN has developed and has started oscillating. This occurs as early as 27 to 48 days gestation in squirrel monkeys. Since monkey embryonic development closely resembles that of a human fetus the first 100 days after conception, it is believed that the same is true for the circadian clock in human. While the light is taken to be the most common stimulus for entraining mammalian circadian rhythms, to local environment time, social stimuli is also commonly cited as zeitbers.Social stimuli affects circadian behavior programme by the regulation of the period and phase of circadian clocks, by the influence of daily patterns of exposure to light or modulation of input to the clock, or by the use of associative processes of learning that make use of circadian time as a conditioned or discriminative stimulus. Good evidence exists to show that social stimulus can work as Zeitgebers. In most species maternal signs are usually the basic zeitgeber before weaning takes place. Adults of certain species can be entrained by periodic or single social interactions, however these effects are not strong and they seem to be necessitated by arousal or social stimulation. There exists no solid evidence yet for sensory-particular non-photic inputs to the clock. There is evidence that inducing arousal can regulate light input into the clock, however there has been no further studies to ascertain if social stimulus can change the conditioning of clock to photic cues or else be incorporated inside the circadian program by the use of associative learning. Social zeitgeber normally appear to be weak in humans compared to light. When under temporal isolation humans could ignore social cues and run freely independently, even though cases of synchrony between one or more group-based housed persons have been reported. Social cues usually affect the timing of circadian by control of sleep-wake states, even though the steps of entrainment explored in sleep-wake programs in light that is dim is at par with photic mediation. Circadian rhythms as integral part of existence Circadian rhythms are usually controlled by “clock genes “that usually code for proteins. These protein levels rise or fall in rhythmic patterns. These oscillating signals are in charge of various functions in the body which includes how we rest, sleep and wake up.Temperature,hormone secretion, heart activity, blood pressure, oxygen consumption, metabolism and other functions are in the body is also controlled by the circadian rhythm. Daily cycles aid in the regulation of substances in our blood which includes; blood sugar, red blood cells, gases, ions such as sodium and potassium. These internal clocks may even influence our moods, especially in the form of wintertime depression called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). References Infants are Regulated by Cycled Lighting”. Pediatrics, vol. 113. Pgs. 833-839. “Thermoregulation and the Track Your Plaque Program.” (2009). Track Your Plaque.Retrieved fromhttp://www.trackyourplaque.com/library/fl_06-032thermoregulation.asp. Gallagher, M., Weiner, I. B., Nelson, R. J. (2003).Biological Psychology, vol. 3, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Zeanah, C. H. (2009). Handbook of Infant Mental Health, New York: Guilford Press. Gallagher, M., Weiner, I. B., Nelson, R. J. (2003).Biological Psychology, vol. 3, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1017/S1464793103006353/abstract http://symposium.cshlp.org/content/25/159 Read More