Circadian rhythms evaluation Flashcards
What is the practical application to shift work?
Knowledge of circadian rhythms has given research a better understanding of the adverse consequences that occur as a result of their disruption
Night workers engaged in shift work experience a period of reduced concentration at around 6am (a circadian trough meaning that accidents are more likely
What else have shift patterns been linked to?
Poor health - they are 3x more likely to develop heart disease possibly due to the stress of adjusting and lack of good quality sleep in the day
Where else might research into the sleep wake cycle have implications?
In the economy in terms of how best to manage worker productivity
What is the practical application to drug treatments?
Circadian rhythms coordinate a number of the body’s basic processes like heart rate digestion hormone levels etc - this in turn has an effect on pharmacokinetics (the action of drugs on the body and how well they are absorbed and distributed)
Research into C rhythms has revealed that there are peak times during the day and night when drugs are likely to be most effective which led to the development of guidelines to do with timing of drug taking for lost of medications such as anti cancer
What is the problem with using small groups of participants or studying individuals?
The people involved may not be representative of the wider population and this limits the extent to which meaningful generalisations can be made
What is an example of an individual being used and what is the issue with this?
In his most recent cave experience siffre found that at aged 60 his internal clock ticked much more slowly than when he was a young man - illustrates even when same person is involved there are factors that impact on the bodies’ circadian rhythms
What was the poo control of studies LK?
Although participants in the study were deprived of natural light instead they still had access to artificial light e.g. turn the lamp on when you wake up and remain on until he goes to bed
It was assumed that unlike daylight artificial light would have no impact on free running biological rhythms
However, Czeisler was able to adjust participants circadian rhythms from 22-28 hours using dim lighting
Therefore the use of light may be comparable to participants taking the drug that resets the biological clock
What is a further issue that complicates the generalisation of findings from studies on the sleep/wake cycle?
Individual differences- individual cycles may vary in some cases from 30 to 65 hours as well as a study revealing that some people display a natural preference for going to bed early or rising early while some display the opposite
There are also age differences in sleep wake patterns
