Biological Rhythms: Infradian and Ultradian Rhythms Flashcards

1
Q

What is an untraditional rhythm?

A

A biological rhythm with a frequency of more than one cycle in 24 hours

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2
Q

What is an infradian rhythm?

A

A biological rhythm with a frequency of less than one cycle in 24 hours

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3
Q

What are examples of infradian rhythms?

A
  • Menstrual cycle

- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

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4
Q

What are examples of ultradian rhythms?

A

Sleep cycle

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5
Q

Describe the menstrual cycle:

A
  • Levels of oestrogen causes ovaries to develop and release an egg
  • Progesterone helps the womb lining to thicken, readying the body for pregnancy
  • If no pregnancy then egg is absorbed and womb lining comes away hand leaves the body
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6
Q

What did Stern and McClintock (199) do?

A
  • 29 women with irregular periods
  • Pheromones were taken at different stages of cycle visual cotton pad
  • Pads cleaned with alcohol and rubbed on lips of other participants
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7
Q

What did Stern and McClintock (1989) find?

A

68% of women experienced changes to cycle which brought them close to their ‘odour donors’

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8
Q

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)?

A

Depressive disorder (low mood/activity) with a seasonal pattern

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9
Q

What is another type of rhythm does SAD come under other than infradian rhythm?

A

Circannual

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10
Q

What is released during the night which is linked to SAD?

A

Melatonin

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11
Q

Which gland is melatonin secreted from?

A

Pineal gland

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12
Q

What stimulus causes the release of melatonin?

A

The dark

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13
Q

Is the release of melatonin increased or decreased during the winter?

A

Increased

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14
Q

What knock-on-effect does melatonin have?

A

Effect secretions of serotonin

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15
Q

What type of rhythm is stages of sleep?

A

Ultradian

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16
Q

What is the stages of sleep?

A
  • Occurs in 90-minute periods
  • Divide into five stages
  • Each stage characterised with a different level of brainwave activity using EEG
17
Q

What are the five stages of sleep?

A
  • Stage 1 & 2: light sleep
  • Stage 3 & 4: difficult to rouse someone
  • Stage 5: REM (rapid eye movement) sleep
18
Q

What occurs at stage 1 & 2 of the stages of sleep?

A
  • Light sleep
  • Easily woken
  • Slower and more rhythmic brainwaves (alpha waves)
  • Becomes deeper (beta waves)
19
Q

What occurs at stage 3 & 4 of the stages of sleep?

A
  • Deep sleep (delta waves)

- Slow waves and greater amplitude

20
Q

What occurs at stage 5 of the stages of sleep?

A
  • Fast, jerky activity of eyes

- Body paralysed yet brain activity speeds up

21
Q

How did research into the menstrual cycle show its evolutionary values?

A
  • More advantageous for females to menstruate at the same time
  • Offsprings can be collectively cared for
22
Q

Who challenged whether there is an evolutionary value of all females menstruating at the same time?

A

Schank (2004)

23
Q

What did Schank (2004) argue?

A

That too many females cycling at the same time increases the competition with males so avoidance of synchrony would appear adaptive evolutionary

24
Q

What is the methodology issues with research into synchronisation studies?

A
  • Too many confounding variables which may change menstrual cycle (e.g stress, diet etc.)
  • Self-report method (may be inaccurate)
  • Small samples
25
Q

Who supports qualitatively different stages in sleep?

A

Dement and Kleitman (1957)

26
Q

What did Dement and Kleitman (1957) do?

A

Monitored sleep patter of 9 people in a sleep lab

27
Q

What did Dement and Kleitman (1957) find?

A
  • Proof of sleep wake cycle
  • Correlation between REM and dreaming
  • REM is ultradian rhythm
28
Q

What is the limitation of research using animal studies in pheromones?

A
  • Extensive understanding of animals and the role of pheromones in sexual behaviour
  • But limited in humans
29
Q

What is the practical application of research into SAD?

A

Development of phototherapy (lightbox stimulating strong light in morning and evening to reset melatonin levels)

30
Q

What may synchronise menstrual cycles?

A

Exogenous zietgebers