Acknowledgement

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to

my teacher Ms. Shikha Sikka who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this project on the topic Circadian
rhythms. It helped me in doing a lot of research and I
came to know about a lot of things related to this topic.

Finally, I would also like to thank my parents and

friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this project
within the limited time frame.
 Certificate

This is to certify that Aarushi Singh of class XI-C has

successfully completed his project on topic Circadian
rhythms as prescribed by Ms. Shikha Sikka during the
academic year 2022-23 as per the guidelines given.

Sign of Teacher

Ms. Shikha Sikka

How do
circadian
rhythms work?
Circadian rhythms are vital processes that function without
external factors. This is because the body itself responds to
biological clocks, which exist naturally in humans and their cells.

Nearly every tissue and organ contain their own biological clocks.
These are the result of certain proteins interacting with cells in
the body, instructing them to be more active or to slow down.

One master clock in the body controls all these individual clocks. In
humans, the master clock is a structure called the
suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which contains about 20,000
nerve cells and receives direct input from the eyes.

As the eyes perceive the bright light of day or the darkness of night,
the SCN picks up on this information, telling the cells to act
accordingly. Light keeps the circadian rhythm in sync with a 24-
hour day.

Each cell produces highly specific substances, such as the building

blocks of amino acids. Once the desirable concentration is reached,
production stops. Enzymes decompose the substances within
hours. A new cycle begins. Certain genes (also referred to as
“clock genes”) act as on/off switches for these processes.
They can be found in nearly any
type of human tissue and their
impact is incredibly multifaceted,
sophisticated and smart. All
parts of the human body have
receptors that take up the
information of messenger
substances and neuronal
stimuli.

The “clock genes” control their

sensitivity. This also applies to the
effect of vitamins, trace elements and
other biologically effective substances,
including medicines. The main switch
is located in the diencephalon, the
diencephalon receives messages from
special photocells located in the retina.

These sensors, which have been decoded only recently, do not

recognize objects or colors, but the times of the day, the
ambient atmosphere and the seasons. They are the starting
point of a mechanism of action, which in its entirety may be
described as a control room where all inner clocks are set.
Examples of
Circadian
Rhythm:

 Cockroaches are nocturnal and most of their locomotory and

feeding activities occur during the hours of darkness. When
these animals were placed under experimental situations in
which the obvious diurnal factors of light and temperature were
removed, it was observed that the rhythmic activity persisted
but with a period, which departed significantly from that of the
solar day. This natural endogenous circadian clock which is
characteristic of an individual cock-roach is not calibrated to
exact 24 hours condition, but may vary between 23 and 25
hours.

 Honeybees have great

foraging powers. Some
flowers blossom once in
a day at a specific time.
Honeybees reach these
flowers at the same time
with the help of ‘alarm’ of
its own biological clock.
Human circadian rhythm:
Human body also goes through regular biological cycles every
day, many of these reach a peak at some regular point during the
day or night. Humans show a periodicity of 24 hours in case of
various physiological activities such as hormone levels in blood,
blood pressure, EEG, ECG and other activities such as rest
cycle, body temperature etc.

The secretion of various hormones from different endocrine

glands shows a rhythmic pattern. The most important gland
exhibiting this rhythmic pattern is pineal gland. Serotonin
hormone, the secretion of this gland, is highest in noon and
lowest at midnight, whereas melatonin hormone is highest at
night and it stops in the early hours of morning (increased
secretion of melatonin hormone makes a person lazy).
What factors can change
circadian rhythms?
Changes in our body and environmental factors can cause our
circadian rhythms and the natural light-dark cycle to be out of sync.
For example:
 Mutations or changes in certain genes can affect our
biological clocks.
 Jet lag or shift work causes changes in the light-dark cycle.
 Light from electronic devices at night can confuse our
biological clocks.
These changes can cause sleep disorders, and may lead to
other chronic health conditions, such as obesity, diabetes,
depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder.

How are circadian rhythms related to jet

lag?
When you pass through different time zones, your biological clock
will be different from the local time. Your biological clock will reset,
but it will do so at a different rate. It often takes a few days for your
biological clock to align with a new time zone