Biological Rhythm

Every living organism has a physiological rhythm. Some animal rhythms span from about a day (circadian) and other animal rhythms span to about a year (circannual). A physiological rhythm could mean the temperature of the species, frequency of movement, brain activity, etc. Most animals are active during the day time and some are more active during the night (Erkert, 2008). For example, a monkey increases its muscular movement during the day making the monkey more of a daytime animal (Krilowicz and Henter, 1997). Chronobiology is the study of biological rhythms. While there maybe be some factors that affect biological rhythms (Cermakian and Boivin, 2009), this paper will emphasize normal biological rhythms. The importance of chronobiology is that it shows us how animals and humans regulate their bodies. We had to conduct an experiment that would let us see how our bodies are regulated. The experiment tests the biological rhythms of human beings to see when a person would reach the high point (zenith) and low point (nadir) of biological functions.

In the winter quarter of biology lab 2011, a class of twenty-four students each had to conduct an experiment. The experiment tests the biological rhythms of human beings to see when a person would reach the high point (zenith) and low point (nadir) of biological functions. Students were told to record their heart rate per minute, their hand eye coordination, and their adding speeds throughout the day. The experiment spanned for two weeks, and students had to remember to do the three tests on an even-numbered hour of the 24-hour day. Once an hour was recorded you would not have to do the tests again for that hour. The strict requirement about being able to record data was that you would have to sleep and wake up at your normal sleeping and awakening times. For example, my normal sleeping hour was 0000, and 0930 for awakening. I would only be able to record the data if I woke up from 0900 to 1000 and slept around 2230 to