Bacterial circadian rhythmBacterial circadian rhythms, like other circadian rhythms, are endogenous "biological clocks" that have the following three characteristics: (a) in constant conditions (i.e. constant temperature and either constant light {LL} or constant darkness {DD}) they oscillate with a period that is close to, but not exactly, 24 hours in duration, (b) this "free-running" rhythm is temperature compensated, and (c) the rhythm will entrain to an appropriate environmental cycle. Until the mid-1980s, it was thought that only eukaryotic cells had circadian rhythms.
PhotomedicinePhotomedicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that involves the study and application of light with respect to health and disease. Photomedicine may be related to the practice of various fields of medicine including dermatology, surgery, interventional radiology, optical diagnostics, cardiology, circadian rhythm sleep disorders and oncology. A branch of photomedicine is light therapy in which bright light strikes the retinae of the eyes, used to treat circadian rhythm disorders and seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
AdenoidectomyAdenoidectomy is the surgical removal of the adenoid for reasons which include impaired breathing through the nose, chronic infections, or recurrent earaches. The effectiveness of removing the adenoids in children to improve recurrent nasal symptoms and/or nasal obstruction has not been well studied. The surgery is less commonly performed in adults in whom the adenoid is much smaller and less active than it is in children. It is most often done on an outpatient basis under general anesthesia.
NocturnalityNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed senses of hearing, smell, and specially adapted eyesight. Some animals, such as cats and ferrets, have eyes that can adapt to both low-level and bright day levels of illumination (see metaturnal). Others, such as bushbabies and (some) bats, can function only at night.
Sleep trackingSleep tracking is the process of monitoring a person's sleep, most commonly through measuring inactivity and movement. A device that tracks a person's sleep is called a sleep tracker. Devices capable of tracking a person's sleep include dedicated sleep trackers, trackers that clip onto a person's pillow, smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and other wearable devices. Some sleep trackers are capable of tracking the stages of a person's sleep (light sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep), the length/duration of a person's sleep, the quality of a person's sleep, and the consistency of a person's sleep.
Sleep and breathingWhen we sleep, our breathing changes due to normal biological processes that affect both our respiratory and muscular systems. Breathing changes as we transition from wakefulness to sleep. These changes arise due to biological changes in the processes that regulate our breathing. When we fall asleep, minute ventilation (the amount of air that we breathe per minute) reduces due to decreased metabolism. During NREM sleep, we move through three sleep stages, with each progressively deeper than the last.
Human body temperatureNormal human body-temperature (normothermia, euthermia) is the typical temperature range found in humans. The normal human body temperature range is typically stated as . Human body temperature varies. It depends on sex, age, time of day, exertion level, health status (such as illness and menstruation), what part of the body the measurement is taken at, state of consciousness (waking, sleeping, sedated), and emotions. Body temperature is kept in the normal range by a homeostatic function known as thermoregulation, in which adjustment of temperature is triggered by the central nervous system.
CLOCKCLOCK (from circadian locomotor output cycles kaput) is a gene encoding a basic helix-loop-helix-PAS transcription factor that is known to affect both the persistence and period of circadian rhythms. Research shows that the gene plays a major role as an activator of downstream elements in the pathway critical to the generation of circadian rhythms. The CLOCK gene was first identified in 1997 by Joseph Takahashi and his colleagues.
Light effects on circadian rhythmLight effects on circadian rhythm are the effects that light has on circadian rhythm. Most animals and other organisms have "built-in clocks" in their brains that regulate the timing of biological processes and daily behavior. These "clocks" are known as circadian rhythms. They allow maintenance of these processes and behaviors relative to the 24-hour day/night cycle in nature. Although these rhythms are maintained by the individual organisms, their length does vary somewhat individually.
Reticular formationThe reticular formation is a set of interconnected nuclei that are located throughout the brainstem. It is not anatomically well defined, because it includes neurons located in different parts of the brain. The neurons of the reticular formation make up a complex set of networks in the core of the brainstem that extend from the upper part of the midbrain to the lower part of the medulla oblongata. The reticular formation includes ascending pathways to the cortex in the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) and descending pathways to the spinal cord via the reticulospinal tracts.
