Biological rhythms – cyclical changes in
way biological systems behave
Circadian rhythms
 cycles that last 24 hours
 latin ‘circa’ (about), ‘dies’ (a day)
 body clock
 driven by body clocks in all cells and
synchronised by the SCN in
hypothalamus
 light Is main pacemaker through
process (photoentrainment)
The sleep-wake cycle
 Light and darkness are external
signals that determine when we
sleep and wake up
 Circadian rhythm dips and rises at
times of the day
 Strongest sleep drive is in two
‘dips’ (2-4 am and 1-3pm, the post-
lunch dip)
 With sufficient sleep dips are less
intense
 Homeostatic control – if awake for
a while homeostatis tells us need
for sleep is increasing because of
amount of energy being used
 This drive for sleep increased until
it reaches the maximum in late
evening when people go to sleep
 Circadian system – sleep and wake
depending on light
 Homeostatic system – sleepier as
time goes on regardless of day or
night
 Circadian clock is ‘free running’ –
24-25 hours even without external
cues
 Major alterations (jet lag, shift
work) cause the rhythm to be out
of balance

Ultradian rhythms
 shorter than 24 hours
Core body temperature
 Best indicators of circadian rhythm
 Lowest (36) at 4.30 am and highest
(38) at 6pm
 Normal circadian rhythm - sleep
when temperatore begins to drop,
alertness when it starts to rise, last
hours of sleep
 Small drop between 2-4pm, which
is why people feel sleepy in
afternoon
Hormone production
 Melatonin released from pineal
gland with peak levels during
darkness
 By activating chemical receptors in
the brain melatonin encourages
sleep
 When dark, more melatonin is
produced
 When light, melatonin production
drops and person wakes up
Sleep stages
 Alternating REM (rapid eye
movement) and NREM (non-rapid
eye movement) sleep
 Stages 1 – 4
 Repeats every 90-100 minutes
 Stages have different duration
 Complete cycle – 4 stages of NREM
and final stage of REM, then starts
again
  Each stage has its own EEG pattern
– deep sleep = slow brain waves,
breathing, heart rate decrease.
REM stage = EEG as awake, most
dreaming
The Basic Rest Activity Cycle
 Kleitman (1969) 90 minute cycle of
sleep but also when awake
 During the day its stages of
alertness and fatigue
 Not as obvious as with sleep stages
but there is evidence of its
existence e.g morning coffee break
at 10.30, lunch at 12, cat naps in
afternoon

Infradian rhythms Weekly rhythms

 longer than 24 hours  Male testosterone levels are
 days, weeks, months, annual elevated at weekends and young
couples have more sex at the
weekends the frequency of births
at the weekend is lower
 Halberg et al. (2002) 7 day rhythms
of blood pressure and heart rate
but evidence is weak
Monthly rhythms: the human menstrual
cycle
 ‘mensis’ – Latin for month
 There are variations – 23–36 days,
average is 28 (Refinetti, 2006)
 Regulated by hormones that
promote fertilisation or ovulation

Biological clocks – found in cells of our
body and synchronized by the SCN in the
hypothalamus. The SCN corodinates
activity of the circadian system
Endogenous pacemakers
 ‘endogenous’ origins within the
organism
 ‘pacemakers’ product of inherited
genetic mechanisms, allow us to
keep pace with environmental
changes
 Most important – suprachiasmatic
nucleus (SCN)
 Ovulation is roughly half way
through the cycle when oestrogen
peaks and lasts 16-32 hours.
 After this phase progesterone
levels increase to prepare for
embryo implantation
Annual rhythms
 In animals annual rhythms are
related to seasons (migration)
 In humans temperature changes
dont influence behaviour
 Magnusson, (2000) – seasonal
variation in mood especially
women (seasonal affective
disorder)
 More heart attacks in winter
 Trudeau (1997) – human deaths,
most in January
The suprachiasmatic nucleus
 In mammals
 Cluster of nerve cells in the
hypothalamus
 Generates circadian rhythms
 ‘master clock’ – links to other brain
regions that control sleep and
arousal and controls other
biological clocks
  Neurons in SCN synchronise with
eachother so that target neurons
in the body receive time-
coordinated signals
 These peripheral clocks need to be
controlled by the SCN
 The SCN is able to do this because
it is controlled by light levels via
optic nerve, light can also
penetrate eyelids
 If biological clock is running slow
(sun rises earlier) the rhythm is
adjusted with outside world.
 Regulates the manufacture and
secretion of melatonin in pineal
gland via interconnecting neural
pathway
The pineal gland
 SCN sends messages to the pineal
gland to increase production and
secretion of melatonin at night and
decreased in the morning
 Melatonin induces sleep by
inhibiting wakefulness
 Pineal gland and SCN function
jointly
 Activity is synchronised with light-
dark rhythm of world outside
Exogenous zeitgebers
 ‘exogenous’ origins outside the
organism
 ‘zeitgeber’ from German word zeit
and geber – ‘time giver’
 Environmental events responsible
for training the biological clock of
an organism
 Most important - light
Social cues
Light
 Receptors in the SCN are sensitive
to light changes and use this to
synchronise body’s organs and
glands
 Light resets the internal biological
clock on a 24 hour cycle
 Rods and cones in retina of eye use
light to form visual images and a
third type of cell gauges brightness
to reset the clock
 Melanopsin (protein) in retinal
cells is critical and carry signals to
SCN to set body cycle
 Meal times and social activities
 Aschoff et al. (1971) in the
absence of zeitgebers, social
zeitgebers can compensate
 Klein & Wegmann (1974) jet lag -
circadian rhythms of travellers
adjust quickly if they go outside
because of social cues
 Sleep-wake cycle of blind people
still influenced by light even with
no visual perception, eye and SCN
parts are still connected that don’t
involve parts that require
perception of light