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A circadian rhythm (/ s ər ˈ k eɪ d i ə n /), or circadian cycle, is a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours.Circadian rhythms can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., endogenous) and responds to the environment (is entrained by the environment).
The physiological changes that follow these clocks are known as circadian rhythms. Because the endogenous period of these rhythms are approximately but not exactly 24 hours, these rhythms must be reset by external cues to synchronize with the daily cycles in the environment. [1] This process is called entrainment. One of the most important cues ...
Light therapy can also be used to treat circadian rhythm sleep disorders. These disorders are caused by discrepancies between one’s circadian rhythm and the light/dark cycle of the environment. People with a sleep disorder experience insomnia or hypersomnia .
A constant routine protocol is a common method used in human circadian rhythm research to study internally generated, or endogenous, circadian rhythms without the effect of external, or exogenous, influences. In the method, subjects are kept in constant conditions for at least 24 hours. [1]
A circadian clock, or circadian oscillator, also known as one’s internal alarm clock is a biochemical oscillator that cycles with a stable phase and is synchronized with solar time. Such a clock's in vivo period is necessarily almost exactly 24 hours (the earth's current solar day). In most living organisms, internally synchronized circadian ...
Light therapy, also called phototherapy or bright light therapy is the exposure to direct sunlight or artificial light at controlled wavelengths in order to treat a variety of medical disorders, including seasonal affective disorder (SAD), circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, cancers, neonatal jaundice, and skin wound infections.
A chronobiotic is an agent that can cause phase adjustment of the circadian rhythm (biological body clock). That is, it is a substance capable of therapeutically entraining or re-entraining long-term desynchronized or short-term dissociated circadian rhythms in mammals, or prophylactically preventing their disruption following an environmental insult such as is caused by rapid travel across ...