Circadian rhythms

On Saturday, June 25, 2005 in London, England, a fifteen-year old girl left her house and went straight up to a construction. She climbed a 130-foot crane. She wasn’t afraid, not careless; she was just asleep. Luckily, a man was passing when he saw her, he immediately call the authorities. After that a firefighter came and helped her get down after waking her up.1 This can demonstrate the amazing incidents that can happen while we sleep. Some of you may ask yourselves how can this happen? The…

A BADGE OF HONOR? “Our society seems to place a moral value on sleeping as little as possible… . Saying ‘I’m tired and I’m going to sleep’ is viewed as being lazy.” Sleep research Dr. Eve Van Cauter (Brody) provided this adequate description of how our high demand, 24 hours a day, seven days a week world, is robbing substantial numbers of people of sleep. For many Americans “inadequate sleep is a workaholic’s badge of honor” (Brink). We proudly pin on our badge of sleep deprivation and polish…

Although increasing efforts to lessen sleep deprivation for teenagers may lengthen the amount of sleep that students get, there will always be students who, despite later school start times and a lighter load of homework, still fail to get enough sleep. This may be due to their own procrastination or simply the speed at which they need to work to grasp the content presented to them. In order to help these students, households and schools can easily implement inexpensive, additional policies to…

Why do we sleep when we do? Humans tend to sleep 5-8 hours every night, and to do so in a pattern tied to the 24-hour light-darkness cycle. This cycle is called a circadian rhythm which means ‘about a day’. It is a naturally occurring body rhythm that occurs in a 24-hour cycle. Sleep is not the only cycle that is considered to be circadian however. There are other cycles like attentiveness, eating, body temperature and blood…

Classification of Sleep Disorders Sleep is important for a person to become healthy the average amount of sleep is about 8 hours. Unfortunately more than half, America is diagnosed with a sleeping disorder making the average time to exceed, decline, or in some cases to not exist. Sleeping disorders are on a spectrum ranging from deadly to not harmful, so if a sleep disorder is not harmful then why is it a disorder? A sleep disorder manipulates someone’s sleep pattern affecting their health.…

The Circadian clock which is the 24h day and night cycle is having an effect on the psychological activity of all organisms. These processes involve activities such as the wave pattern of the brain, melatonin, and other biological aspects. Melatonin is a hormone in the brain that helps our body to control the sleep and wake cycles. A small portion of it can be found in some certain food such as meat and fruits. Our internal “clock” in our bodies that controls the sleep and wake cycles can also…

(1) Introduction to the research area: In this era there are many ways attributes to health are recorded on our new and advance technology such as the amount of steps you walk, the running distance you cover, the calories you burn and many other beneficial health considerations. But what millions of people in North America have a serious problem with, is the ability to not get proper sleep and most don’t realize how detrimental that affects ones health. This could be a result of a lack of…

important as our bodies need sleep to function as certain functions are restored within the body. The biological approach states that sleep occurs in a circadian rhythm known as the sleep-wake cycle occurs over a 24-hour period. The hypothalamus is located in the brain and contains the superchiasmatic nucleus (SCN) which controls the circadian rhythm. The SCN controls sleep patterns by receiving visual cues from the visual system and passing signals to the pineal gland. The pineal gland, when…

It is five fifty in the morning; your alarm goes off. You try to ignore it, but it keeps making that annoying beeping sound. So, you open your eyes, get up and look out the window, and it’s pitch black. You want to go back to sleep, but you have to catch the bus in less than twenty minutes. You would not mind waking up at five in the morning if your math teacher did not give you so much homework. In this paper, we will go over the pros and cons on why all schools should or should not start later…

nearly 15% of the people in the country who use a nightcap to fall asleep. What is happening here? Well, alcohol may sedate you and help you fall asleep quickly, it actually disrupts your natural sleep patterns. Essentially, it causes your circadian rhythms (your sleep pattern) to speed up and cause you to wake up sooner than if you hadn't drank anything at all. Even worse, your body will get used to the sedation of alcohol after a few nights, nullifying its effects. Are There Any Benefits To…