Chapter 13: Why We Sleep and Dream Flashcards
a natural rhythm or cyclic changes in behaviour/bodily process
biorhythm
the time required to complete one cycle of activity
period
biorhythms are defined by their ___
periods
circannual rhythms have a period of about ___ (e.g., migratory cycles of birds)
1 year
___ have monthly or seasonal periods greater than a day but less than a year
infradian rhythms
example of an infradian rhythm
human menstrual cycle (28 days)
the menstrual cycle is linked to the cycle of the moon so is also referred to as a ___
circalunar cycle
___ have a daily period, (e.g., human sleep-wake cycle)
circadian rhythms
___ have a period of less than a day (e.g., human eating cycles)
ultradian
___ help living things adapt to the cyclical changes that take place in the environment as a result of Earth’s rotation & orbit in relation to the sun
biorhythms
the ___ incline slightly towards the sun for part of the year and slightly away from it for the rest of the year due to ___
North & South Poles; the Earth’s axis tilting slightly
the magnitude of day-night changes increases as ___ increases
distance from the equator
___ determines seasons
the tilt of Earth on its axis
day and night result from ___
rotation of Earth on its axis every 24h
migration requires adaptation to changes in:
- length of day & night
- climate
- food availability
almost every living organism & every living cell displays ___
circadian rhythms
___ change colour in a rhythmic pattern
lizards & crabs
the existence of a biological clock was first recognized in 1729 by geologist ___
Jean Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan
Jean Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan’s conclusion about plant movement
movement of the plant is endogenous, it is caused by an internal clock that matches the temporal passage of a real day
a circadian clock regulates ___ as appropriate to day-night cycles; they also produce ___ effects
feeding/sleeping times & metabolic activity; epigenetic
detailed study of biorhythms had to await the development of ___
electrical & computer-based timing devices
rat behaviour was first measured by ___
giving the animal access to a running wheel for exercise
animals adjust their circadian activities in response to:
- availability of food
- presence of predators
- competition within their own species
to determine whether a rhythm is produced by a biological clock, researchers can conduct tests in which they manipulate these conditions:
- continuous light
- light of varying brightness
- continuous darkness
- light choice of the participant
- eating, activity, sleep times all regulated