circadian rhythm


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Related to circadian rhythm: melatonin, Circadian rhythm sleep disorder

circadian rhythm

n.
A daily rhythmic activity cycle, based on 24-hour intervals, that is exhibited by many organisms.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cir·ca·di·an rhythm

(sər-kā′dē-ən)
A daily cycle of biological activity based on a 24-hour period and influenced by regular variations in the environment, such as the alternation of night and day.
Did You Know? Why do you sometimes wake up on time even if your alarm clock doesn't ring? How do nocturnal animals know when it is time to wake up? It's because you—and most other animals—have a kind of internal clock that controls the cycle of the day's biological activities, such as sleeping and waking. These daily biological activities are known as circadian rhythms because they are influenced by the regular intervals of light and dark in each 24-hour day. While the process underlying circadian rhythm is not completely understood, it is mainly controlled by the release of hormones. The brain regulates the amount of hormone released in response to the information it gets from light-sensitive cells in the eye, called photoreceptors. Circadian rhythms can be disrupted by changes in this daily schedule. For example, biologists have observed that birds exposed to artificial light for a long time sometimes build nests in the fall instead of the spring. In humans who travel long distances by air, the local time of day no longer matches the body's internal clock, causing a condition known as jet lag.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

circadian rhythm

The regular recurrence of life activities in 24-hour cycles.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.circadian rhythm - a daily cycle of activity observed in many living organisms
biological time - the time of various biological processes
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

cir·ca·di·an rhythm

n. ritmo circadiano, ref. a variaciones rítmicas biológicas en un ciclo de 24 horas.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
References in periodicals archive ?
In the exhibition's Discovery Zone, visitors can explore the microbiome and how it regulates our circadian rhythm and interact with the Mind Your Microbes app and Circadian Rhythm Hourglass, created by APC Microbiome Ireland, to see the effect of age, diet and exercise on our microbiome and in turn, our internal body clock.
Researchers have long been searching for ways to understand and address this link, and a study published in Scientific Reports adds a new piece to the puzzle: the circadian rhythm.
Dr Guy Leschziner, from Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals in London, said: "The key thing is to ensure you are not damaging your internal circadian rhythm by not exposing yourself to bright light, for example, when you are going home."
"Melatonin is a very potent regulator of your drive to sleep and regulator of your circadian rhythm. We know that the sensitivity to blue light varies tremendously.
The body clock - also known as the circadian rhythm - is a 24-hour biological cycle that occurs individually in every cell of the body, driving daily rhythms in our physiology, from when we sleep, to hormone levels, to how we respond to medication according to the study published in the Journal of Cell.
Would I be able to maintain a healthier weight if I ate according to my body's circadian rhythm?
Panda, it's easy to identify problems with your circadian clock, and with some lifestyle modifications you can restore balance to your circadian rhythm and reap the long-term rewards in the form of better sleep, greater health, and reduced risk of disease.
Young "for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm." The Nobel Assembly declared on October 02, 2017 that the winners "were able to peek inside our biological clock and elucidate its inner workings".1
The third cycle is the circadian rhythm, or cycles that last for a day, such as the sleep/wake cycle.
"This is an important study demonstrating a robust association between disrupted circadian rhythm and mood disorders."
"We found that the majority of students were being jet-lagged by their class times, which correlated very strongly with decreased academic performance," said study co-lead author Benjamin Smarr, a postdoctoral fellow who studies circadian rhythm disruptions in the lab of UC Berkeley psychology professor Lance Kriegsfeld.
Biologists survey some of the recent research on the daily, or circadian rhythm of life.

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