![]() ![]() When the light begins to change, I sometimes feel a little strange… Credit: National Institute of General Medical Sciences This means that our sensitivity to light and changes in our experience of light have direct effects on the SCN.ĭiagram illustrating the influence of dark-light rhythms on circadian rhythms and related physiology and behaviour. Crucially, the hypothalamus is also connected to our optic nerve. Each of these biological clocks is connected to a ‘master clock’ located in the hypothalamus region of the brain – our very own version of the Greenwich Time Ball! This master clock consists of thousands of neurons and astrocytes (a type of star-shaped cell in the central nervous system that supports neurons), together forming a structure known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). In mammals, biological clocks are physical structures present in most organs and tissues in the body they are made of proteins that interact with other molecules and change their activity throughout the day depending on environmental factors. ![]() SCN: If you say it loud enough you’ll always sound precocious! To find the conductors of these natural rhythms, we need to get cellular… Some mammals adopt completely nocturnal lifestyles and even hibernate or undergo periods of dormancy. This is because our circadian rhythm is partially regulated by light exposure, which in turn dictates the activity of genes and hormones related to our internal biological clocks. Since the award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Hall, Rosbach, and Young for their work on circadian rhythms in 2017 1, we have all heard this euphonious term more frequently, but how do the factors that regulate sleep/wake cycles differ between nocturnal (active at night) and diurnal (active during the day) animals? Most living things adhere to a cyclic pattern of activity over a period of time humans generally follow a 24-hour circadian rhythm, incorporating around eight hours of sleep (usually at night) and 16 hours of wakefulness. Whatever time you have chosen to peruse, it will be at some point during your natural sleep/wake cycle: your circadian rhythm. You may be reading this article over your morning coffee, or at midnight – nourishing your brain with scientific tidbits before drifting into a deep slumber. ![]()
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