Biorhythms Flashcards
What are the three types of biological rhythm?
Circadian, Infradian and Ultradian
What is a circadian rhythm?
Any biological process that takes 24 hours to complete
What is an Infradian rhythm?
A biological rhythm that takes longer than 24 hours
What is an Ultradian rhythm?
Any biological rhythm that takes less than 24 hours to complete
What are endogenous cues?
Internal control features
What are exogenous cues?
External control factors
What happened in the Folkard case study?
A participant was kept in a laboratory for 25 days without cues about time. She began to sleep for longer and her sleep-wake cycle extended to 30 hours
What does the Folkard study suggest about biorhythms?
It suggests that without external cues, the body maintains rhythmic activity, but the apparent day length extends
What are some examples of endogenous pacemakers?
Melatonin production, the suprachiasmic nucleus
What are some examples of exogenous zeitgebers?
The sun going down, taking melatonin tablets
What is phase advance?
Where the body clock is set earlier so people fall asleep and wake up earlier
What is phase delay?
Where the body clock is set back, causing people to fall asleep and wake up later
What did Groblewski’s research entail?
He took the SCN from hamaters who had a 20 hour clock, and put them in hamsters with regular sleep schedules. He found that these hamsters adopted the new rhythm this proving that the SCN controls the sleep wake cycle
