After a time-shift, mixed signals from the circadian clock
Circadian rhythms in mammalian behavior, physiology, and biochemistry are controlled by the central clock within a brain structure known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The clock is synchronized to environmental cycles of light and dark. It is well known, from everyday experience, that adjusting to new light schedules takes several days, though the details of how this adaptation takes place...The circadian clock: Understanding nature's timepiece
A cluster of brain cells less than half the size of a pencil eraser tells you when to wake up, when to be hungry and when it's time to go to sleep. The same cells also cause you to be disoriented after you've flown across multiple time zones. The human circadian clock, comprised of about 20,000 time-keeping cells, has mystified scientists since it was pinpointed in the brain about 30 year...Gene controlling circadian rhythms linked to drug addiction
The gene that regulates the body's main biological clocks also may play a pivotal role in drug addiction, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. The Clock gene not only controls the body's circadian rhythms, including sleep and wakefulness, body temperature, hormone levels, blood pressure and heart activity, it may also be a key regulator of the brain's reward system.</...Temperature regulates circadian clock in zebrafish
The biological clock controls the circadian rhythms of a wide range of physiological and behavioral processes, from fluctuating hormone levels to sleep-wake cycles and feeding patterns. While it's well known that circadian clock elements sense and respond to light cycles, much less is known about how daily temperature cycles affect the clock's timing mechanism in vertebrates. In the open-access...A novel method to measure circadian cycles
Everyone knows morning people and late-night owls. The variation in individual circadian rhythms is an anecdotal as well as experimentally verified fact. But, until now, to systematically study circadian differences (and thereby hope to rout out the underlying genetic causes), scientists have had to rely on prolonged behavioural observation. To screen for and identify circadian rhythm variation...Circadian Rhythm Could Determine Lung Function
Based on findings of a recent study researchers say that the circadian rhythms, the body's biological processes that repeat in 24-hour cycles , can significantly impact lung function and help determine peak times to exercise // or receive medical treatments . During the study changes in lung function between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m were examined. Results from the five-year study, which t...Researchers Investigate Gene Linked With Circadian Liver Clock
Anyone who has experienced jet lag will understand the importance of a smooth-running circadian clock. Crossing time zones decouples our biological rhythms// from the natural cycle of light and dark we’re used to. We perceive light cues through retinal photoreceptors that relay signals to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain. "Phase adjustments" in peripheral tissues ensure...Life Functions Governed by Circadian Rhythms-new Research
In a new study conducted by Colorado State University shows that circadian rhythms dominate all life function. The functions of all the genes in the mammals are according to this daily rhythm. It disproves the prior theory that only 10 to 15% of genes were affected by the natures clock. It was earlier believed that some special function of the genes was the basic property of the organism. But the...Circadian Clocks Triggered Chemical Reactions may Be Behind Jet Lag
Scientists from Cornell University and Dartmouth University have explained the biological mechanism by which circadian clocks, a factor responsible for why people get sleepy at night and wake in the morning, sense light through a process that transfers energy from light to chemical reactions in cells, which may be behind jet lag, mental illness, and even some forms of cancer in humans....Study Reveals Little-known Cell Networks Vital to Circadian Rhythm
Circadian rhythm is the basic 24-hour cycle that involves various behaviors, including sleeping and eating, in all living organisms. In mammals, the circadian clock is organized hierarchically in a series of multiple oscillators. At the top of this hierarchy, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a region of the brain that is the body"s main rhythmic regulator, integrates light information from the...