ultradian rhythms

• what is a biological rhythm?

  • pattern of change in body that occurs in cycles & repeats
  • can match daily, monthy, yearly cyclic changes in environment
  • different rhytms have cycles that last different amounts of time for them to complete & begin again
• example of ultradian rhythm?

  stages of sleep
• how many stages of sleep are there?

  5
• how long does one sleep cycle last?

  90 mins
• what happens to period of rem during each cycle?

  gets longer
• stage 1 & 2 of sleep?

  • light sleep when person is easily woken
  • beginning of sleep brainwave patterns become slower & more rhythmic - alpha waves
  • as sleep becomes deeper - theta waves
• stage 3 & 4 of sleep?

  • deep sleep/slow wave sleep - delta waves
  • difficult to wake someone at this point
• stage 5 of sleep?

  • rem - rapid eye movement
  • body is paralysed, eyes move around under eyelids
  • brain activity speeds up to similar levels to when awake
  • when dreaming occurs & memories formed
• 2 * of ultradian rhythms?

  1. evidence to support from dement & kleitman
  2. led to development of treatments for range of sleep disorders
• * evidence to support from dement & kleitman for u.r?

  • used eegs to measure sleep patterns of 9 p
  • rem activity highly correlated with dreaming & p able to recall their dreams during this period
  • supports existence of sleep stages as u.r
  • shows there are clear stages of sleep - happen more than once per day
  • e.p - brain waves do govern behaviour
• * led to treatments for sleep disorders for u.r?

  • understanding different stages of sleep led to helpful techniques & treatments for insomnia
  • means we can use eegs to identify sleep patterns & what stages of sleep have been interrupted/when they are waking up
  • research into u.r has practical application
  • insomnia diagnosis will be improved leading to better therapies
  • may potentially improve economy if these people can get better sleep & become more productive at work
• 2 X of ultradian rhythms?

  1. using eegs
  2. sample size of dement & kleitman