Circadian Phase Disorders

Question 1

circadian rhythm phase disorder

Answer 1

sleep disorder that disrupts a persons ability to sleep due to a mismatch between an individuals sleep-wake cycle and the natural day-night cycle of the external environment.

Question 2

Sleep-wake cycle shift in adolescence

Answer 2

Adolescents experience a phase delay in their circadian rhythms, with their sleep-wake cycle shifting later in the evening. This is as a result of melatonin- a sleep inducing hormone being released 1-2 hours later, and cortisol, a hormone that increases wakefulness being released 1-2 hours later.
These biological factors a swell as social factors such as homework result in adolscets feeling tired later, and a delayed sleep onset.

Question 3

Shift-work circadian disorder

Answer 3

Shift workers that are scheduled to work outside of the normal waking day, and have a circadian rhythym that is out of sync. They must be alert at times when melatonin levels are naturally higher, and sleep when melatonin levels are naturally lower, resulting in distorted timing, or a shift in the sleep wake cycle and release of melatonin.

Question 4

Jet Lag circadian phase disorder

Answer 4

extrinsic circadian phase disorder due to a disruption to the body’s normal sleep-wake cycle following rapid travel across multiple time zones. This results in a mismatch between the internal body clock and the external environment.