Biological rhythms are internal rhythms of biological activity. A woman’s menstrual cycle is an example of a biological rhythm—a recurring, cyclical pattern of bodily changes. One complete menstrual cycle takes about 28 days—a lunar month—but many biological cycles are much shorter. For example, body temperature fluctuates cyclically over a 24-hour period (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). Alertness is associated with higher body temperatures, and sleepiness with lower body temperatures.
Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The circadian change in body temperature over 28 hours in a group of eight young men. Body temperature rises throughout the waking day, peaking in the afternoon, and falls during sleep with the lowest point occurring during the very early morning hours. [“Figure 4.2”/OpenStax is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Data from Waterhouse et al. (2012).]
This pattern of temperature fluctuation, which repeats every day, is one example of a circadian rhythm. A circadian rhythm is a biological rhythm that takes place over a period of about 24 hours. Our sleep-wake cycle, which is linked to our environment’s natural light-dark cycle, is perhaps the most obvious example of a circadian rhythm, but we also have daily fluctuations in heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and body temperature. Some circadian rhythms play a role in changes in our state of consciousness.
If we have biological rhythms, then is there some sort of biological clock? In the brain, the hypothalamus, which lies above the pituitary gland, is a main center of homeostasis. Homeostasis is the tendency to maintain a balance, or optimal level, within a biological system.
The brain’s clock mechanism is located in an area of the hypothalamus known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The axons of light-sensitive neurons in the retina pro- vide information to the SCN based on the amount of light present, allowing this internal clock to be synchronized with the outside world (Klein et al., 1991; Welsh et al., 2010) (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)).
Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) serves as the brain’s clock mechanism. The clock sets itself with light information received through projections from the retina. [This work, “Suprachiasmatic Nucleus,” is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 by Judy Schmitt. It is a derivative of “Figure 4.3”/OpenStax, which is licensed under CC BY 4.0.]
