Why Are Biological Rhythms Important in Daily Life?
The Biological rhythms are the natural cyclic changes in the body. It maintains both the chemical or function changes. It functions as an internal clock master and coordinates with the other clock in the body. They are made up of thousands of nerve cells, which sync to the body functions. The biological clock in human located in the brain and connected with the nervous system. The periodic biological fluctuation in the body corresponds to the environmental changes and biological changes
Types of Biological Rhythms
Based on the functions of Biological rhythms are classified into four types. The types of biological rhythms are
Circadian rhythms
Diurnal rhythms
Ultradian rhythms
Infradian rhythms
Circadian Rhythms: The Circadian rhythm is a 24-hour cycle, It is a part of the body’s internal clock. They are running to carry our essential functions and process of the body. One of the well-known circadian rhythms is the sleep-wake cycle. The different system of the body follows the master clock of the brain, which synchronize with circadian rhythms. The circadian clock plays an important role in a physical, mental, and behavioural role that depends on light and dark.
Diurnal Rhythms: The diurnal rhythms are also known as endogenous rhythms. It syncs the day and night with circadian rhythms. It is mainly influenced by environmental clues like climate changes.
Ultradian Rhythms: The Ultradian rhythms occur more than once a day. It lasts for short period at high frequency. For example, deep sleep for ninety minutes. The alertness and hormone level follow the ultradian rhythms.
Infradian Rhythms: A biological rhythm, which lasts for more than 24 hours is because of Infradian rhythms. For example, the menstrual cycle in women occurs every 28 days.
Biological Clock in Humans
In the human body, Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) present in the brain is the main biological clock, which regulates the circadian rhythm of sleep. The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus is located up the right corner of the nervous system in the hypothalamus. Here, the light stimulates the retina’s receptors and sends a signal to the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus. Then they send a signal to the pineal gland for melatonin secretion. The melatonin hormone regulates the proper sleep cycle. Serum cortisol concentrations rapidly increase in the early morning hours, gradually decrease during the day, with small elevations after meals, and remain decreased for much of the night.
What are the Types of Biological Rhythm Disorders?
Every biological disorder impacts the circadian rhythm. The biological rhythms are disturbed by various factors.
Sleep Disorders: The body’s health is related to the sleep cycle. The prolonged distribution of the regular sleep cycle affects the biological rhythms. It causes sleeping disorders like insomnia.
Jet Lag: Overnight travel across the time zones disturbs the circadian rhythm. And causes biological rhythm disorders.
Mood Disorders: The biological rhythm disorders also occur if people lack exposure to sunlight. This causes depression, seasonal affective disorders, and bipolar disorders.
Shift Work Disorders: The people who are working in the rotational shifts cause changes in circadian rhythms and it may lead to shift work disorders.
Biological Rhythm Disorder Causes
Biological rhythms psychology disorders affect the person’s health and hormonal changes. The list of factors that causes the biological rhythm disorder are
Anxiety
Depression
Lack of mental alertness
Diabetes
Obesity
Daytime sleepiness
Physically inactive
Irregular sleeping habits
Being more accident-prone
Risks of Biological Rhythm Disorder
The people who are working in the rotations shifts are facing high risks of biological rhythm disorder. This causes hormonal imbalance and various other diseases. The US researchers found that about 15% of the rotational shift workers are getting affected by these disorders.
For example, healthcare workers, travellers, police officers, drivers, pilots, and others in transportation, food preparers, and servers, and firefighters are at a high risk of biological rhythm disorders. According to the NSF survey, only 63% of workers felt that they had enough sleep.
How to Maintain a Healthy Circadian Rhythm?
It is important to have a balanced circadian rhythm for maintaining a healthy life cycle. Here, the perfect chart for balancing healthy circadian rhythms is listed.
Exploring natural light and setting the body clock cycle accordingly helps to build a healthy circadian rhythm.
To have a perfect sleep time, practice the biological clock sleep by maintaining regular bedtime as it affects the biological clock circadian rhythm
A regular exercise with healthy activity during the daytime supports the biological rhythms psychology and helps to sleep earlier.
Alcohol consumption and caffeine affect sleep and biological rhythms. Reducing intake of caffeine impacts the hormone.
Often exploring the artificial lights during night time impacts the body clock cycle. Limited exploring to electronic gadgets helps to improve healthy biological clock in humans
Day time sleep affects the natural routine and impacts the biological clock circadian rhythm.
FAQs on Biological Rhythms: Meaning, Types, and Disorders
1. What are biological rhythms in the context of biology?
Biological rhythms are naturally occurring, internal cycles of physiological and behavioural changes in living organisms. These rhythms are controlled by an internal 'biological clock' and are often synchronised with external environmental cues. They regulate essential functions like the sleep-wake cycle, hormone release, body temperature, and metabolism to help organisms anticipate and adapt to daily and seasonal changes.
2. What are the main types of biological rhythms classified by their duration?
Biological rhythms are primarily classified based on the length of their cycle. The main types are:
- Circadian Rhythms: These cycles last for about 24 hours and govern daily processes like sleep and wakefulness.
- Ultradian Rhythms: These are cycles shorter than 24 hours that occur multiple times a day, such as the stages of sleep (REM and non-REM) or cycles of appetite.
- Infradian Rhythms: These cycles are longer than 24 hours. A common example in humans is the monthly menstrual cycle.
- Circannual Rhythms: This is a type of infradian rhythm with a cycle length of approximately one year, often related to seasonal changes like hibernation in animals or seasonal mood variations in humans.
3. What are some common examples of biological rhythms in humans?
Humans exhibit several biological rhythms that are crucial for health. Key examples include:
- The sleep-wake cycle, which is a classic 24-hour circadian rhythm.
- Daily fluctuations in core body temperature, which typically drops during sleep and rises during the day.
- The cyclical release of hormones, such as melatonin (increases at night to promote sleep) and cortisol (peaks in the morning to promote alertness).
- The female menstrual cycle, which is an infradian rhythm lasting approximately 28 days.
4. What is the difference between endogenous and exogenous rhythms?
The key difference lies in their origin:
- Endogenous Rhythms are generated internally by an organism's biological clock, independent of external signals. For example, even in complete darkness, humans will maintain a roughly 24-hour sleep-wake cycle.
- Exogenous Rhythms are driven directly by external environmental cues, known as zeitgebers (German for 'time givers'). The most powerful zeitgeber is the light-dark cycle, which synchronises or 'entrains' our internal endogenous clock to the 24-hour day.
5. What is the role of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain?
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), located in the hypothalamus of the brain, acts as the body's master clock. It receives direct input about light levels from the retina of the eyes. Based on this light information, the SCN coordinates and synchronises all the peripheral biological clocks throughout the body, ensuring that functions like hormone production, digestion, and body temperature operate in a harmonised rhythm.
6. What is a circadian rhythm disorder?
A circadian rhythm disorder occurs when a person's internal sleep-wake clock is misaligned with their external environment. This desynchronisation makes it difficult to sleep and wake at the required times, leading to issues with sleep quality, daytime functioning, and overall health. Common examples include jet lag, shift work disorder, and delayed sleep phase disorder.
7. Are 'biorhythms' and 'biological rhythms' the same concept?
No, they are fundamentally different. Biological rhythms are scientifically proven physiological and behavioural cycles studied in chronobiology. In contrast, the concept of 'biorhythms' is a pseudoscience that claims a person's life is governed by fixed physical, emotional, and intellectual cycles starting from birth. There is no scientific evidence to support the existence or predictive power of these pseudoscientific biorhythms.
8. How do external cues like light and temperature influence our internal biological clock?
External cues, known as zeitgebers, are essential for synchronising our internal biological clock with the outside world. Light is the most powerful zeitgeber; exposure to morning light signals the SCN to reset the clock for the day, promoting wakefulness. Conversely, darkness triggers the release of melatonin, preparing the body for sleep. Other cues like temperature, mealtimes, and social activity also act as weaker zeitgebers that help fine-tune and stabilise our daily rhythms.
9. Why is chronic disruption of the circadian rhythm, such as from jet lag or shift work, considered harmful?
Chronic disruption of the circadian rhythm is harmful because it desynchronises vital bodily functions that are supposed to work in harmony. This misalignment, or chrono-disruption, forces the body to perform activities at biologically inappropriate times. Over time, this can lead to an increased risk of serious health issues, including metabolic disorders (like obesity and type 2 diabetes), cardiovascular problems, a weakened immune system, and mood disorders like depression and anxiety.
10. How do circadian rhythms differ from circannual rhythms in function?
The primary difference between circadian and circannual rhythms is their timescale and function:
- Circadian Rhythms have a cycle of approximately 24 hours. Their main function is to regulate an organism's daily activities and physiology to align with the day-night cycle. The human sleep-wake cycle is a prime example.
- Circannual Rhythms have a cycle of approximately one year. Their function is to prepare organisms for predictable seasonal changes. Examples include animal hibernation, migration, and seasonal breeding patterns.
