Biological rhythms, biorhythms, are more or less regular changes in the nature and intensity of biological processes. The ability for such changes in vital activity is inherited and found in almost all living organisms. They can be observed in individual, and, in whole organisms and in.

Biorhythms are divided into physiological and ecological. Physiological rhythms, as a rule, have periods from fractions of a second to several minutes. These are, for example, rhythms, heartbeats and blood pressure. Ecological rhythms coincide in duration with any natural rhythm of the environment. These include daily, seasonal (annual), tidal and lunar rhythms. Thanks to ecological rhythms, the body is oriented in time and prepares in advance for the expected changes in the conditions of existence. So, some flowers open shortly before dawn, as if knowing that the sun will soon rise. Many animals fall into winter or migrate before the onset of cold weather (see). Thus, ecological rhythms serve the body as a biological clock.

Ecological rhythms are resistant to various physical and chemical influences and persist even in the absence of corresponding changes in the external environment. Most plants in temperate and high latitudes lose their leaves during the winter to avoid moisture loss. An apple or pear tree retains the seasonal periodicity of dropping leaves even when grown in the tropics, where there is never frost. In shell mollusks, during sea tides, the shell valves are open wider than during low tides. This tidal rhythm of valve opening and closing has been observed in mollusks and in an aquarium 1600 km from the ocean coast, where they were caught. The French speleologist M. Siffre spent 205 days underground in a cave in complete solitude and darkness. All this time he had a daily rhythm and wakefulness.

The main terrestrial rhythm is daily, due to the rotation of the Earth around its axis, therefore, almost all processes in a living organism have a daily periodicity. All these rhythms (more than 100 of them have already been found in humans) are connected in a certain way with each other, forming a single rhythmic system of the body coordinated in time. With a mismatch of rhythms, a disease develops, called desynchronosis. In humans, desynchronosis is observed, for example, when flying through several time zones, when he has to get used to a new daily routine.

Violation of rhythm and wakefulness can lead not only to insomnia, but also to diseases of the cardiovascular, respiratory and. That is why it is so important to follow the daily routine. Biorhythms are intensively studied by specialists in the field of space and medicine, since astronauts will be completely deprived of the usual rhythms of the environment during the exploration of new planets.

The science of biological rhythms - biorhythmology - is still very young. But now it is of great practical importance. By artificially changing the seasonal cycles of lighting and temperature, it is possible to achieve mass flowering and fruiting of plants in greenhouses, high fertility of animals. Any medicine or poison affects the body in different ways during the day. This feature was noticed by the founders of medicine in ancient China, who made up the “hours of vitality” and “hours of diseases” of this or that. These "clocks" are especially widely used in acupuncture. Currently, the time factor is taken into account in the treatment of many diseases, and primarily in the treatment of cancer. By determining the time of the lowest resistance of insects to insecticides, it is possible to carry out chemical treatments with the greatest efficiency with minimal environmental pollution.

The problem of biological rhythms is still far from a final solution. Until now, the subtle mechanisms of the biological clock have not been unraveled.

HOW TO SET A LIVE CLOCK

One of the most interesting manifestations of the biological measurement of time is the daily periodicity of flowers opening and closing in plants. Each plant "falls asleep" and "wakes up" at a strictly defined time of day. Early in the morning (at 4 a.m.) chicory and wild rose open their flowers, at 5 a.m. - poppy, at 6 a.m. - dandelion, field carnation, at 7 a.m. - bluebell, garden potatoes, at 8 a.m. - marigolds and bindweed, at 9-10 h - marigolds, coltsfoot, and only at 11 o'clock - toriza. There are also flowers that open their corollas at night. At 20 o'clock fragrant tobacco flowers open, and at 21 o'clock - adonis and night violets.

Flowers also close at a strictly defined time: at noon - thistle field, at 13-14 hours - potatoes, at 14-15 hours - dandelion, at 15-16 hours - poppy and toriza, at 16-17 hours - marigolds, at 17-18 hours - coltsfoot, at 18-19 hours - buttercup and at 19-20 hours - wild rose.

You can arrange a living clock in the garden bed. To do this, you need to plant flowering plants in the order in which they open or close their flowers. Such multi-colored and fragrant watches will not only delight you with their beauty, but will also allow you to determine the time quite accurately (with an interval of 1 - 1.5 hours).

For the first time, such a flower clock was arranged by an outstanding Swedish naturalist in the 1920s. 18th century

However, the flower clock accurately shows the time only in clear and sunny weather. On cloudy days or just before a change in the weather, they can deceive. Therefore, it is useful to create a collection of green barometers that predict weather changes. Before rain, for example, marigolds and buttercups close their corollas. A native of the tropical forests of Brazil, a bizarre monstera is able to predict precipitation even a day in advance, abundantly releasing moisture from the leaves.

The opening and closing of flowers also depend on many other conditions, such as the geographical location of the area or the time of sunrise and sunset. Therefore, before compiling a flower clock, it is necessary to make preliminary observations.

Flower clocks can be arranged, for example, from these plants. The circles show the approximate time when the flowers open and close.

Rhythm is often associated with the waltz. Indeed, his melody is a harmonious series of sounds set in a certain order. But the essence of rhythm is much broader than music. These are sunrises and sunsets, winters and springs, and magnetic storms - any phenomenon and any process that repeats periodically. The rhythms of life, or, as they say, biorhythms, are recurring processes in living matter. Have they always been? Who invented them? How are they related to each other and what can they influence? Why do they need nature at all? Maybe the rhythms of life only get in the way, creating unnecessary boundaries and not allowing you to develop freely? Let's try to figure it out.

Where did biorhythms come from?

This question is consonant with the question of how our world arose. The answer may be this: biorhythms were created by nature itself. Think about it: in it all natural processes, regardless of their scale, are cyclical. Periodically, some stars are born and others die, activity on the Sun rises and falls, year after year one season is replaced by another, morning is followed by day, then evening, night, and then morning again. These are the rhythms of life known to all of us, in proportion to which there is life on Earth, and the Earth itself too. Obeying the biorhythms created by nature, people, animals, birds, plants, amoebas and ciliates-shoes live, even the cells of which we all consist. Engaged in the study of the conditions for the emergence, nature and significance of biorhythms for all living beings of the planet, a very interesting science is biorhythmology. It is a separate branch of another science - chronobiology, which studies not only rhythmic processes in living organisms, but also their connection with the rhythms of the Sun, Moon, and other planets.

Why are biorhythms needed?

The essence of biorhythms is in the stability of the flow of phenomena or processes. Stability, in turn, helps living organisms adapt to the environment, develop their own life programs that allow them to give healthy offspring and continue their kind. It turns out that the rhythms of life are the mechanism by which life on the planet exists and develops. An example of this is the ability of many flowers to open at certain hours. Based on this phenomenon, Carl Linnaeus even created the world's first flower clock without hands and a dial. Flowers showed time in them. As it turned out, this feature is associated with pollination.

Each flower, which opens by the hour, has its own specific pollinator, and it is for him that he releases nectar at the appointed hour. The insect, as it were, knows (thanks to the biorhythms that have developed in its body as well) when and where it needs to go for food. As a result, the flower does not waste energy on the production of nectar when there is no consumer for it, and the insect does not waste energy on unnecessary searches for the right food.

What other examples of the usefulness of biorhythms are there? Seasonal flights of birds, migration of fish for spawning, search for a sexual partner in a certain period in order to have time to give birth and raise offspring.

The importance of biorhythms for a person

There are dozens of examples of wise patterns between biorhythms and the existence of living organisms. So, the correct rhythm of a person's life is subject to the daily routine, unloved by many. Some of us hate to eat or go to bed at fixed hours, and our bodies are much better off if we follow the cycle. For example, the stomach, having become accustomed to the schedule of food intake, will produce gastric juice by this time, which will begin to digest food, and not the walls of the stomach itself, rewarding us with an ulcer. The same applies to rest. If you do it at about the same time, the body will develop a tendency at such hours to slow down the work of many systems and restore the expended forces. Knocking down the body from the schedule, you can provoke unpleasant conditions and earn serious diseases, from bad mood to headache, from a nervous breakdown to heart failure. The simplest example of this is the feeling of weakness throughout the body that occurs after a sleepless night.

Physiological biorhythms

There are so many rhythms of life that they decided to systematize them, dividing them into two main categories - the physiological rhythms of the life of organisms and the ecological ones. Physiological include cyclic reactions in the cells that make up the organs, the beating of the heart (pulse), the process of breathing. The length of physiological biorhythms is very small, only up to several minutes, and there are those that last only a fraction of a second. For each individual, they are their own, regardless of belonging to a population or family ties. That is, even twins can be different. A characteristic feature of physiological biorhythms is their high dependence on a number of factors. Phenomena in the environment, the emotional and psychological state of the individual, diseases, any little thing can cause a failure of one or several physiological biorhythms at once.

Ecological biorhythms

This category includes rhythms that have the duration of natural cyclic processes, so they can be both short and long. For example, a day lasts 24 hours, and the period is extended by 11 years! Ecological biorhythms exist by themselves and depend only on very large-scale phenomena. For example, there is an opinion that once the day was shorter because the Earth rotated faster. The stability of ecological biorhythms (the length of the day, the seasons of the year, associated illumination, temperature, humidity and other environmental parameters) in the process of evolution was fixed in the genes of all living organisms, including humans. If a new rhythm of life is artificially created, for example, by interchanging day and night, the organisms are far from being rearranged immediately. This is confirmed by experiments with flowers that were placed in pitch darkness for a long time. For some time they, not seeing the light, continued to open in the morning and close in the evening. It has been experimentally proved that the change of biorhythms has a pathological effect on vital functions. For example, many people with the transfer of clocks to summer and winter time have problems with pressure, nerves, and heart.

Another classification

The German physician and physiologist J. Aschoff proposed to divide the rhythms of life, focusing on the following criteria:

Temporal characteristics, such as periods;

Biological structures (in a population);

Rhythm functions, such as ovulation;

A kind of process that generates a specific rhythm.

Following this classification, biorhythms are distinguished:

Infradian (last more than a day, for example, hibernation of some animals, menstrual cycle);

Lunar (moon phases that greatly affect all living things, for example, with a new moon, the number of heart attacks, crimes, car accidents increases);

Ultradian (lasts less than a day, for example, concentration of attention, drowsiness);

Circadian (lasting about a day). As it turned out, the period of circadian rhythms is not associated with external conditions and is genetically laid down in living organisms, that is, it is innate. Circadian rhythms include the daily content of plasma, glucose or potassium in the blood of living beings, the activity of growth hormones, the functions of hundreds of substances in tissues (in humans and animals - in urine, saliva, sweat, in plants - in leaves, stems, flowers) . It is on the basis of herbalists that they advise harvesting a particular plant at strictly defined hours. We humans have identified over 500 processes with circadian dynamics.

Chronomedicine

This is the name of a new field in medicine that pays close attention to circadian biorhythms. There are already dozens of discoveries in chronomedicine. It has been established that many pathological conditions of a person are in a strictly defined rhythm. For example, strokes and heart attacks are more common in the morning, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., and from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. their occurrence is minimal, the pain is more annoying from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m., hepatic colic more actively causes suffering at about one a.m., and hypertensive the crisis is stronger around midnight.

On the basis of discoveries in chronomedicine, chronotherapy arose, which develops schemes for taking drugs during periods of their maximum impact on a diseased organ. For example, the duration of the work of antihistamines drunk in the morning lasts almost 17 hours, and taken in the evening - only 9 hours. It is logical that diagnoses are made in a new way with the help of chronodiagnostics.

Biorhythms and chronotypes

Thanks to the efforts of chronomedics, a more serious attitude appeared to the division of people according to their chronotypes into owls, larks and pigeons. Owls, with a constant rhythm of life that is not artificially changed, as a rule, wake up themselves around 11 am. Their activity begins to appear from 2 o'clock in the afternoon, at night they can easily stay awake until almost morning.

Larks easily get up without a wake-up call at 6 in the morning. At the same time, they feel great. Their activity is noticeable somewhere up to one in the afternoon, then the larks need rest, after which they are again able to do business until about 6-7 pm. Forced wakefulness after 9-10 pm is difficult for these people to endure.

Pigeons are an intermediate chronotype. They easily wake up a little later than larks and a little earlier than owls, they can actively do business all day, but they should go to bed at about 11 pm.

If owls are forced to work from dawn, and larks are identified on the night shift, these people will begin to get seriously ill, and the enterprise will suffer losses due to the poor working capacity of such workers. Therefore, many managers try to set work schedules according to the biorhythms of workers.

We and modernity

Our great-great-grandfathers lived more measuredly. Sunrise and sunset served as clocks, seasonal natural processes served as calendars. The modern rhythm of life dictates completely different conditions to us, regardless of our chronotype. Technological progress, as you know, does not stand still, constantly changing many processes to which our body barely has time to adapt. Also, hundreds of drugs are being created that significantly affect the biorhythms of living organisms, for example, the timing of fruit ripening, the number of individuals in populations. Moreover, we are trying to correct the biorhythms of the Earth itself and even other planets by experimenting with magnetic fields, changing the climate as we please. This leads to the fact that chaos arises in our biorhythms formed over the years. Science is still looking for answers on how all this will affect the future of mankind.

Frantic pace of life

If the impact of changes in biorhythms as a whole on civilization is still being studied, then the impact of these changes on a particular person is already more or less clear. The current life is such that you need to manage to do dozens of things in order to be successful and implement your projects.

It is not even dependent, but in bondage to its daily plans and responsibilities, especially women. They need to be able to allocate time for family, home, work, study, their health and self-improvement, and so on, although they still have the same 24 hours in a day. Many of us live in fear that if they fail, others will take their place and they will be left out. So they set themselves a frantic pace of life, when they have to do a lot on the go, fly, run. This does not lead to success, but to depression, nervous breakdowns, stress, diseases of internal organs. In the frantic pace of life, many simply do not feel pleasure from it, do not get joy.

In some countries, an alternative to the crazy race for happiness has become the new Slow Life movement, whose supporters try to get joy not from an endless string of deeds and events, but from living each of them with maximum pleasure. For example, they like to just walk down the street, just look at the flowers or listen to the birds singing. They are sure that the fast pace of life has nothing to do with happiness, despite the fact that it helps to get more material wealth and climb higher up the corporate ladder.

Pseudo-theories about biorhythm

Soothsayers and oracles have long been interested in such an important phenomenon as biorhythms. Creating their theories and systems, they try to connect the life of each person and his future with numerology, the movement of the planets, and various signs. At the end of the last century, the theory of "three rhythms" soared to the peak of popularity. For each person, the moment of birth is allegedly the trigger mechanism. At the same time, physiological, emotional and intellectual rhythms of life arise, which have their peaks of activity and decline. Their periods were 23, 28, and 33 days, respectively. Proponents of the theory drew three sinusoids of these rhythms superimposed on one grid of coordinates. At the same time, the days on which the intersection of two or three sinusoids fell, the so-called zero zones, were considered very unfavorable. Experimental studies completely refuted this theory, proving that people have periods of biorhythms of their activity can be very different.

The human body is not just a collection of cells. This is a complex, interdependent system of physiological processes and connections. For this mechanism to work smoothly, a clear program and the correct work schedule are needed. The function of this vital program is performed by human biological rhythms.

Scientists have proven that human biorhythms change significantly with age. For example, the biorhythmic cycle of infants is quite small. Their change of activity and relaxation occurs every 3-4 hours. Until about 7–8 years old, it will not work to understand the “lark” of the baby or the “owl”. The older the child, the longer the cycles of biorhythms become. They become diurnal by the end of puberty.

What are biorhythms

By duration, all biological rhythms can be divided into several groups:

• high-frequency, the interval of which is no more than 30 minutes;
• mid-frequency, are longer, the interval varies from 30 minutes to 7 days;
• low-frequency - from a week to a year.

Motility of the stomach, changes in the emotional background and concentration of attention, sleep cycles, sexual activity are strictly fixed rhythms, their interval is 90 minutes.
Fact: the nature of the human rhythmic field is inherited.
Among the numerous biorhythms of the human body, the main ones are the following:

1. One and a half hour. It is expressed in a change in the neuronal activity of the brain. Occurs both during sleep and while awake. Influences fluctuations in mental abilities. Thus, every 90 minutes there is low and high excitability, peace and anxiety.
2. Diurnal - the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness.
3. Monthly. Until recently, it only referred to the menstrual cycle of women, but recent studies have shown that men are also subject to changes in performance and mood.
4. Annual. Seasons affect hemoglobin and cholesterol levels. Spring and summer bring increased muscle excitability, as well as greater photosensitivity.

There is a theory that there are also rhythms with a cycle of 2, 3, 11 and 22 years. They are influenced by meteorological and heliogeographical processes.

People are social beings who have managed to adjust to the weekly rhythm over the years.

Having long been accustomed to work 5-6 days of the week, and rest 1-2, their level of performance is constantly fluctuating. Moreover, Monday is characterized by a reduced craving for work, and the maximum rise occurs from Tuesday to Thursday.

Functions of biorhythms

Biological rhythms have a huge impact on the life of the body, because they perform very important functions.

1. Optimization of the vital activity of the organism. Any biological process cannot proceed all the time in the active phase; it needs regular recovery. Therefore, in order to save resources, there is a change in the minimum and maximum activation phases of the cycle.
2. Time factor. This function affects the ability of the human body to function regardless of its consciousness. It helps to adapt to changes in the external environment, weather phenomena.
3. Regulatory. The normal functioning of the central nervous system is impossible without the appearance of the so-called dominant. It is a group of nerve cells combined into one system, as a result of which an individual rhythm is created for each person.
4. Unifying. This function, coupled with the principle of multiplicity, affects a person's ability to adapt their biorhythms to daily ones.

How to set the biological clock

In case of non-observance of the sleep and rest regime, stressful situations, change of time zones, irregular nutrition, the biological clock fails, which cannot but affect the well-being and performance of a person. In order to set them up, you must adhere to the following rules:

• measured lifestyle;
• eating and sleeping at the same time;
• rejection of bad habits;
• avoidance of overwork;
• phototherapy - create additional lighting in the daytime, especially in cloudy weather;
• an excellent assistant to "tune in" will be the alarm clock, most importantly, do not be lazy;
• sunrise naturally synchronizes its own biorhythms with natural ones.

Which organ is "responsible" for biorhythms

The main "clock" of the body is the hypothalamus. This tiny organ, consisting of 20,000 neurons, influences the functioning of all systems. Although modern research has not given an answer to the question of how exactly this mechanism works, there is a theory that the main signal is sunlight.
Everyone has long known that getting up with the sun and lying down immediately after sunset is extremely beneficial for health and performance.

What is a "chronotype"

There are situations when you have to stay up all night. However, you should not abuse the resources of the body. During wakefulness, its main task is to process the accumulated nutrients. This process is necessary for good daytime performance.

At night, the production of growth hormone is activated. It starts anabolic processes. Regular lack of sleep causes a feeling of hunger. People are drawn to sweets and fats, their metabolism slows down, and this is a direct road to obesity!

At the same time, all people differ in chronotype. "Larks" are already on their feet from 6-7 in the morning, but by 21-22 hours their energy runs out. It is difficult for "owls" to get up in the morning, their performance increases only in the evening.

Modern researchers distinguish more "pigeons". These people are activated by the middle of the day.
Fact: statistics claim that in the world as many as 40% of "owls", a quarter of the population consider themselves "larks", the rest are "pigeons". But most often they are mixed species.

Which of the "feathered" is easier to live

Given the modern regimes of work and rest, it becomes clear that pigeons are the most fortunate. Indeed, their biorhythms allow them to better adapt to modern life.
Larks are healthier than owls and pigeons, but they have a harder time adapting to regime change.

Do not rush to feel sorry for owls. Yes, their efficiency is late and appears only at the end of the working day. However, by the age of 50, their health characteristics are much better than those of larks. This is due to their high adaptive capabilities. It is also believed that there are many optimists among owls, which cannot be said about larks.

It turns out that not only scientists are interested in chronotypes. European employers, when hiring employees, are asked to indicate their biorhythmic indicators. For example, night work is better for owls, because their efficiency and productivity at this time will be higher than that of larks. Thus, the number of marriages and accidents becomes much less.

We are not as lucky as the Europeans. But there is hope that in the near future, each "feathered" will have its own schedule.

The influence of the daily cycle on the internal organs

It is important for each person to know when and how the work of internal organs is activated, because the choice of the optimal time for taking medications and carrying out cleansing procedures depends on this.

1. Heart. Emotional and physical stress is best transferred to the daytime (from 11 am to 1 pm). Do not load the motor from 23:00 to 1:00 in the morning.
2. Colon. The maximum working capacity of the body falls on the time from 5 to 7 hours, from 17 to 19 hours it is in the calm phase.
3. Bladder. The accumulation of fluid occurs from 15 to 17 hours, from 3 to 5 in the morning - minimal activity.
4. Lungs. Open the window from 3 to 5 in the morning, at this time it is important for the human body to “breathe”. The minimum activity falls on the time from 15 to 17 hours.
5. Liver. Active regulation of blood and bile occurs from 1 to 3 hours, weak activity is observed at 13 - 15 hours.
6. Vision. This information will be of interest to drivers. Driving at 2 am is especially difficult.
7. Stomach. “Eat breakfast yourself…” – says a well-known proverb and for good reason! After all, the peak performance of the stomach falls on 7-9 o'clock in the morning. From 19 to 21 hours the stomach should be allowed to rest.
8. Gallbladder. From 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. there is an active production of bile, the minimum is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Interesting! The hardest time to deal with loneliness is between 20:00 and 22:00.
So what should be the optimal regime of biorhythms? We get up at 4 am, have breakfast at 5 o'clock, have lunch at 10 o'clock, have an afternoon snack at 15 o'clock, dinner at 19 o'clock. At 21 o'clock we go to bed!
The main thing is to listen to your biological clock and let it coincide with the biorhythms of nature!

Rhythmic changes in physiological functions inherent in living organisms. Rhythmic activity is inherent in any complex system consisting of many interacting elements. The latter also have rhythm, while the processes of all the elements that make up the system are coordinated with each other in time - a certain rhythm of the alternation of processes and a change (increase or decrease) in the intensity of each of them arises.

As a result, a certain synchronization of various processes in the system is created. In turn, this system interacts with a higher order system, which also has its own biorhythm.

There are several groups rhythmic processes in the body:

• high-frequency rhythms with a period from fractions of a second to 30 minutes (electrical phenomena in the body, respiration, pulse, etc.);
• average frequency rhythm with a period of 30 minutes to 6 days (changes in metabolic processes, biologically active substances in the blood and other processes associated with a change in activity and rest, sleep and wakefulness);
• low-frequency rhythms with a period of fluctuation from 6 days to 1 year (ovarian-menstrual cycle, weekly, lunar, annual rhythm of hormone excretion, etc.).

AT balneology seasonal or circadian are important - circadian rhythms(from lat. cirka - about and dies - day). They must be taken into account when sending patients and vacationers to a resort in contrasting climatic regions, when prescribing medical procedures.

To adapt to new environmental conditions when moving, a change is necessary biorhythms, development of chronophysiological adaptation. These issues are dealt with by the biorhythmology of movement - a science that objectively studies and quantifies the mechanisms of the biological temporal structure, including the rhythmic manifestations of life, the reaction of biorhythms to a change in the geographical position of the organism (Matyukhin V.A., 2000).

Seasonal Rhythms determined by the climate of the region. The range of annual fluctuations in illumination depends on the geographical latitude of the area, as well as on a number of other geographical factors associated with the flow of forming processes (atmospheric circulation, etc.). Moving from north to south or from south to north, a person finds himself in new environmental conditions that differ from the previous ones in the nature of illumination and climatic and weather features. The most noticeable disruption of various processes during the transition from south to north in winter or summer, i.e. during the polar night or polar day. The dates of the seasons in different geographical latitudes do not coincide: when spring is already coming in the south, snow blizzards are still raging in the north; when a person falls into another season, the seasonal rhythm of metabolic processes and physiological functions, which was fixed in the process of development, is disturbed. For example, in winter, the sympathetic-adrenal system is stimulated, pulmonary ventilation and basal metabolism increase, its character changes in the form of increased lipid metabolism, etc. In summer, changes often have the opposite character (Voronin N. M., 1986; Gavrilov N . N., Chkotua M. E., 1999).

circadian rhythms determined by the change of day and night, i.e., the nature of the illumination. They change when moving from north to south or from south to north (especially in winter and summer), and from west to east or from east to west. In the latter case, rapid movement (flight) always causes a more different reaction than in the first, from north to south.

In every biorhythm Distinguish: period - the time during which the changing value makes a full cycle - the number of periods per unit of time; amplitude - the difference between the largest and smallest values ​​​​of a changing quantity (range); phase - the position of a certain point of the curve in relation to the time axis (acrophase - the time of the appearance of the largest value of the indicator). In violation of biorhythms, all these indicators change.

With the restructuring of the daily rhythm of a person, the development of pathological conditions is possible - desynchronosis. They arise as a result of a significant violation of the biorhythm caused by a mismatch between the physiological rhythms of the body and external time sensors.

Clinically desynchronosis are manifested by fatigue, weakness, decreased efficiency, sleep and wakefulness disturbance, digestive tract activity, etc. With significant violations of the daily stereotype, neurasthenic syndrome may develop.

Severity of changes biorhythms, the speed of their adaptation to new conditions depends on a number of factors. Ceteris paribus, when flying from west to east, when biorhythms should, as it were, “catch up” with local time, the adaptation period is longer than when flying from east to west, when human biorhythms seem to be “ahead of events” and must “expect”, when they “should be expected”, when they will be “caught up” by local time (G. S. Katinas, N. I. Moiseeva, 1999).

At the same time, the place of permanent residence of a person, the nature of the established biorhythm are of great importance. In these cases, when returning to normal conditions biorhythms rebuild faster than when moving to new conditions, regardless of the direction of movement. Thus, in Siberian residents, when flying to the Crimea, a new daily stereotype is established slowly, has a “loose” character, and after the flight back, it quickly collapses and the previous rhythm is restored. An important role is played by the distance a person moves, the speed of movement. According to a number of authors, when crossing 2-3 time zones desynchronosis do not develop (Evuikhevich A.V., 1997), others noted the development desynchronosis with a shift of 2 hours (Stepanova S.I., 1995). Fast movement has a more pronounced effect on biorhythms than slow movement.

Changing biorhythms is a strong, stressful load not only for patients whose adaptive mechanisms are usually weakened, but also for healthy people. In this regard, it is necessary to take measures to accelerate chronophysiological adaptation, taking into account the individual characteristics of human biorhythms.

According to the position of the maximum activity, rhythms are distinguished from the morning (" larks"") and evening (" owls") temporary organization.

"Owls" somewhat easier than the "larks", they adapt to the delay of the time sensor of the flight to the west), since in this case the day lengthens and activity is required during the period corresponding to the evening hours according to local time.

"Larks" somewhat easier than "owls", they adapt to the advance of the time sensor (flight to the east). At the same time, the psychophysiological characteristics of a person are of no small importance. Persons with a predominance of the tone of the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system, having stable rhythms, adapt worse than those with a predominance of the tone of the sympathetic part, the elderly are harder than the young (Matyukhin V.A., 2001).

Chronophysiological adaptation can be accelerated. So, for faster falling asleep, warm baths, soothing exercises and self-hypnosis, sleeping pills that do not cause aftereffects and do not violate the structure of sleep (eunoctin, quiadon) are recommended. Walking and physical activity are recommended to maintain vigor. Moderate physical activity contributes to the normalization and synchronization of circadian rhythms, while hypokinesia leads to their flattening and shift to later hours.

Various adaptogens(ginseng, eleutherococcus, golden root, etc.). For a flight through 2-4 time zones, morning and afternoon hours are recommended, after 6-8 time zones - in the evening.

Throughout the period of chronophysiological adaptation, strict medical control is necessary.

Take account of biological rhythms necessary during treatment. Chronopharmacology as a branch of chronopathology and pharmacology, it investigates the effect of the influence of medicinal substances depending on time and application, as well as on the temporal (rhythmic) structure of the body under the influence of appropriate influences. It is also appropriate here to talk about chronotherapy, i.e., about such application of therapeutic measures, which provides the greatest therapeutic effect due to the consideration of biorhythms.

Medical rehabilitation. / Ed. V. M. Bogolyubov. Book I
- M.: Binom, 2010. Chapter 4. Natural physical factors used for rehabilitation. - 4.1. Climatic factors. - Physiological mechanisms of climate influence on the body. - FROM.58-60.

Time: 2 hours.

Learning goal: to understand the meaning of body biorhythms as a background for the development of adaptive reactions.

1. Chronophysiology- the science of the time dependence of physiological processes. An integral part of chronobiology is the study of biological rhythms.

Rhythm of biological processes is an integral property of living matter. Living organisms live for many millions of years under conditions of rhythmic changes in the geophysical parameters of the environment. Biorhythms are an evolutionarily fixed form of adaptation that determines the survival of organisms by adapting them to rhythmically changing environmental conditions. The fixation of these biorhythms ensured the anticipatory nature of the change in functions, i.e., the functions begin to change even before the corresponding changes in the environment occur. The anticipatory nature of changes in functions has a deep adaptive meaning and significance, preventing the intensity of the restructuring of body functions under the influence of factors already acting on it.

2. Biological rhythm (biorhythm) called a regular self-sustaining and to a certain extent autonomous alternation in time of various biological processes, phenomena, states of the body.

Classification of biological rhythms.

According to the classification of the chronobiologist F. Halberg, rhythmic processes in the body are divided into three groups. The first includes rhythms of high frequency with a period of up to 1/2 h. Rhythms of medium frequency have a period from 1/2 h to 6 days. The third group consists of rhythms with a period of 6 days to 1 year (weekly, lunar, seasonal, annual rhythms).

O circadian biorhythms divided into circadian, or circadian (circa - about, dies - day, lat). Example: alternation of sleep and wakefulness, daily changes in body temperature, performance, urination, blood pressure, etc.

Chronotype- This is a specific organization of the work of the whole organism during the day. Labor physiologists believe that maximum performance(and, accordingly, activity) exists in two time periods: from 10 to 12 and from 16 to 18 o'clock, at 14 o'clock there is a decline in working capacity, there is also in the evening. Minimum performance at 2 - 4 o'clock in the morning. However, a large group of people (50%) have increased efficiency in the morning (“larks”) or in the evening and at night (“owls”). It is believed that there are more "larks" among workers and employees, and "owls" - among representatives of creative professions. However, there is an opinion that "larks" and "owls" are formed as a result of many years, preferably morning or evening vigil.

The resistance of the body is highest in the morning hours. The sensitivity of teeth to painful stimuli is highest in the evening hours (maximum at 18:00).

Rhythms with a period of less than a day- infradian (infra - less, lat., i.e., the cycle repeats less than once a day). Example: phases of normal sleep, periodic activity of the digestive tract, rhythms of breathing and cardiac activity, etc.

Rhythms with a period of more than a day- ultradian (ultra - over, lat., i.e. frequency more than once a day). Example: the menstrual cycle in women, hibernation in some animals, etc.

According to the classification of Smirnov V.M., all biorhythms are classified by origin: physiological, geophysical and geosocial biorhythms.

Physiological rhythms- continuous cyclic activity of all organs, systems, individual cells of the body, ensuring the performance of their functions and proceeding independently of social and geophysical factors.

Physiological biorhythms were formed in the process of evolution as a result of an increase in the functional load on individual cells, organs, and systems.

The value of physiological rhythms is to ensure the optimal functioning of cells, organs and body systems. The disappearance of physiological biorhythms means the end of life. The ability to change the frequency of physiological rhythms provides a quick adaptation of the body to various conditions of life.

Geosocial biorhythms are formed under the influence of social and geophysical factors.

The value of geosocial biorhythms lies in the adaptation of the body to the regime of work and rest. The occurrence in living systems of self-oscillations with periods close to the cycles of work and rest indicates the high adaptive capabilities of the organism.

Geophysical biorhythms- these are cyclic changes in the activity of cells, organs, systems and the body as a whole, as well as resistance, migration and reproduction, due to geophysical factors. Geophysical biorhythms are cyclical fluctuations in physiological biorhythms due to changes in environmental factors.

Geophysical biorhythms were formed under the influence of natural factors, in many respects they are connected with the seasons, the phases of the moon.

The value of geophysical biorhythms - they ensure the adaptation of the body to cyclic changes in nature.

Table 1. Characteristics of human biorhythms

Types of biorhythms	heritability	Sustainability	Species specificity
Physiological	Congenital	Constant at rest, quickly (seconds to minutes) change with a change in the intensity of the body's work	characteristic
Geophysical	Congenital	Very stable, can slowly change over several generations when the habitat changes. Some (menstrual cycle) do not change at all	Inherent in some biorhythms (for example, the menstrual cycle)
Geosocial	"Fusion" of congenital and acquired rhythms with a predominance of the latter	Stable, but can slowly change with changes in the mode of work and rest, place of residence	Not typical

Table 2. Classification of human biorhythms

Name of biorhythms	Biorhythm frequency
Basic physiological rhythms
Electroencephalogram cycles: alpha rhythm
Cycles of cardiac activity	60 – 80 /min
Respiratory cycles
Cycles of the digestive system: basal electrical rhythms peristaltic waves of the stomach hungry periodic contractions of the stomach
Geosocial biorhythms
circadian (circadian):
ultradian (performance level, hormonal changes, etc.)	0.5 - 0.7 / day
circadian (level of performance, intensity of metabolism and activity of internal organs, etc.)	0.8 - 1.2 / day
infradian (for example, excretion of certain hormones in the urine)	1 / (28 h – 4 days)
Near-weekly (circaseptane), for example, the level of performance	1 / (7±3 days)
Geophysical biorhythms
Perimenstrual (circatriginal, e.g. menstrual cycle)	1 / (30±5 days)
Perennial (circannual):
ultranular (airway resistance in women)	1 / (several months)
circannular (airway resistance in men, the content of B-lymphocytes in humans, metabolism)	1 / (about a year)

The change in human performance proceeds in accordance with three cycles:

1. physical rhythm (duration - 23 days); 2. emotional rhythm (duration - 28 days).

In its positive period, people tend to be in a good mood and are very contact. 3.intellectual rhythm (duration - 33 days).

These rhythms are “started” at the moment of birth and then persist with amazing constancy throughout life. The first half of the period of each rhythm is characterized by an increase, the second - by a decrease in physical, emotional and intellectual activity. The day of transition from the positive half of the cycle to the negative or vice versa is called critical, or zero. It is on this day that most accidents happen to people.

3 . Biorhythm parameters :

Period(T) - the duration of one cycle, that is, the length of the time interval until the first repetition. Expressed in units of time.

Frequency- the number of cycles completed per unit of time is the frequency of the process.

Mezor(M) - the level of the average value of the indicators of the process under study (the average value of the useful signal). Allows you to judge the average daily value of the indicator, as it allows you to ignore random deviations.

Amplitude(A) - the largest deviation of the signal from the mesor (in both directions from the average). Characterizes the power of the rhythm.

Rhythm phase(Φ, φ,∅) - any part of the cycle, instantaneous state, the moment of the cycle when a specific signal value is registered. In this case, the duration of the cycle is usually taken as 360 ° C, or 2π radians.

acrophase- the point of time in the period, which corresponds to the maximum of the sinusoid, - when the maximum value of the parameter under study is noted. It is of great importance for pharmacological correction.

bathyphaza- point of time in the period when the minimum value of the studied parameter is noted.

There are a large number of different factors that ensure the formation of biological rhythms.

The main ones are the following:

photoperiod (change of light and darkness) affecting motor activity;

cyclic fluctuations of the geomagnetic field;

cyclical power modes;

cyclical changes in ambient temperature (day-night, winter-summer) due to the rotation of the Earth around its axis, as well as around the Sun;

cyclical phases of the moon;

cyclic changes (albeit minor) in the force of gravity of the Earth.

Social factors play a particularly important role in the formation of human biorhythms; Basically, these are cyclic modes of work, rest, and social activities. However, the main (primary) factor in the formation of human biorhythms is geophysical factor (photoperiodism)- the alternation of light and dark times of the day, which predetermines the motor and creative activity of a person as part of the day-night cycle.

Gravity plays an important role in the formation of biorhythms and life itself. Life developed on Earth under the influence of gravity. The most convincing example of the reaction of plant organisms to gravity is the geotropism of plants - the growth of roots down, the stem - up under the influence of gravity. That is why plant life is disturbed in space: the roots grow in different directions, and not into the ground.

B biological clock - these are the structures and mechanisms of biological rhythms, formed and fixed under the influence of geophysical and social factors.

Hypotheses about clock localization:

The biological clock is localized in the epiphysis. P production of melatonin closely correlates with changes in illumination (day-night), sex hormones. In the dark, the production of melatonin in the pineal gland increases, in the light - serotonin.

The biological clock is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus.

The role of the clock is performed by cell membranes (membrane theory).

The role of the clock is performed by the cerebral cortex. In animals with a remote cerebral cortex, the alternation of sleep-wake is disturbed.

Widespread chronon hypothesis. According to the chronon hypothesis, the cell clock is the cycle of protein synthesis, the duration of which is about 24 hours.

There is a "big" biological clock that counts the duration of life. They state the total changes in the body's homeostasis from the moment of its birth to death. The "large" biological clock "goes" unevenly. Many factors affect them, accelerating (risk factors) or slowing down their course, shortening or lengthening life.

The rhythm-setting stimulus can also be external. The "lunar month" turned out to be evolutionarily fixed in the rhythm of physiological processes (menstrual cycle), since the Moon influences a number of earthly phenomena, which in turn affect living organisms, and they adaptively change their functions. Physical synchronizers also include fluctuations in air temperature and humidity, barometric pressure, the intensity of the electric and magnetic fields of the Earth, which also change due to solar activity, which also has a periodicity. A. L. Chizhevsky rightly associated with solar activity the “echo of solar storms” - a number of human diseases.

Under natural conditions, the rhythm of a person's physiological activity is synchronized with his social activity, usually high during the day and low at night. When a person moves through time zones (especially quickly on an airplane through several time zones), there is function desynchronization. This manifests itself in fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbance, mental and physical depression; sometimes there are digestive disorders, changes in blood pressure. These sensations and functional disorders arise as a result of desynchronization of circadian fixed rhythms of physiological processes with a changed time of daylight hours (astronomical) and social activity in a new place of residence of a person.

A common type of desynchronization of the biological and social rhythms of activity is work in the evening and night shifts at enterprises with round-the-clock operation. When moving from one shift to another, biorhythms desynchronize, and they are not fully restored by the next working week, since the restructuring of human biorhythms on average takes about 2 weeks. Workers with hard work (for example, air traffic controllers, air pilots, night transport drivers) and variable shift work often experience temporary maladaptation - desynchronosis. These people often have various types of pathology associated with stress - peptic ulcer, hypertension, neurosis. This is the price for disrupting circadian biorhythms.

Desynchronosis is a disorder of circadian biorhythms.

1. disagreement (several days);

2. gradual formation of new biorhythms (7-10 days);

3. full recovery (within 14 days.)

Questions for self-study

The concept of chronophysiology.

Human biorhythms, their classification.

Characteristics of the main parameters of biorhythms.

Factors that determine biorhythms.

Management of internal oscillatory processes in the body

The concept of desynchronosis.

Homework

Make a table of the rhythmic processes of the body according to the following scheme:

Draw a biorhythm curve, designate its phases.

Draw a graph of the daily rhythm of human performance.

Independent work in class

Table 7.2

		Program of action	Indicative bases of action
1. Make graphs of physical, emotional and intellectual biorhythms		Build graphs of physical, emotional and intellectual biorhythms. To do this, fill in the table "Indicators of physical, emotional and intellectual cycles." Analyze the resulting graphs of physical, emotional and intellectual biorhythms using tables 34, 35, 36. Make a conclusion.	Table "Indicators of physical, emotional and intellectual cycles" Index Physical Emotional Intellectual A - according to tab. 30 find the remainder of dividing the number of years lived by the period of the corresponding cycle. The number of years lived is determined as follows: the year of birth is subtracted from the current year and another one is subtracted. B - according to table 31, determine the number of leap years. We are talking about whole years, where the year of birth and the current year are not taken into account. B - according to table 32, determine the remainder of dividing the number of whole months lived in the year of birth, if the year is a leap year and February is lived in its entirety, then add 1. D - according to table 33, find the remainder of dividing the number of whole months lived in the current year. D - add 1 if the current year is a leap year and the month of February has passed. E - write down the number of days lived in this month. Then divide the sum of each cycle by the length of the period of the same cycle. So, divide the amount received in the physical cycle by 23, in the emotional cycle - by 28, in the intellectual cycle - by 33. Then add one to the resulting balances and get the day of the cycle. Build a graph based on the results. today's date
2. Definition chronotype human		Determine the chronotype using the proposed test. Choose one answer for each question in the test.	1. Do you find it difficult to get up early in the morning: a) yes, almost always; b) sometimes; c) extremely rare? 2. If you had the opportunity to choose what time you would go to bed: a) after 1 o'clock in the morning; b) from 23:30 to 1:00; c) from 22:00 to 23:30; d) until 22:00? 3 . What kind of breakfast do you prefer during the first hour after waking up: a) hearty; 6) less dense; c) you can limit yourself to a boiled egg or a sandwich; d) Is a cup of tea or coffee enough? 4. If you recall your last disagreements at work and at home, then mainly at what time they occurred: a) in the morning; 6) in the afternoon? 5. What could you give up more easily: a) morning tea or coffee; b) evening tea? 6. How easily are your eating habits disturbed during holidays or holidays: (a) very easily; b) quite easily; c) difficult; d) stay the same? 7 . If you have important things to do early in the morning, how much earlier do you go to bed than usual: a) more than 2 hours; 6) for 1-2 hours; c) less than 1 hour; d) as usual? 8. How accurately can you estimate a period of time equal to a minute: a) less than a minute; b) more than a minute?

Table 1

Answer options

table 2

Test control

The main factor in the formation of biorhythms

1) social;

2) geophysical (photoperiodism);

3) physiological.

Biorhythms are basic

1) physiological;

2) geosocial;

3) geophysical

Physiological biorhythms

1) an alloy of congenital and acquired biorhythms;

2) are genetically programmed, have species specificity;

3) cyclical changes in the activity of cells, organs and systems due to geophysical factors.

Geophysical factors include

1) mode of work, rest, social activities;

2) gravity, earth's magnetic field, photoperiodism.

Geosocial biorhythms

1) genetically programmed;

2) have species specificity;

3) can change in ontogeny.

According to the chronohypothesis, the cell clock is

1) epiphysis and suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus;

2) cerebral cortex;

3) cycle of protein synthesis.

The pineal gland produces melatonin in large quantities.

3) in the evening.

Choose the correct sequence of stages of desynchronosis

1) restructuring, stabilization, mismatch;

2) stabilization, mismatch, restructuring;

3) mismatch, restructuring; stabilization.

A new circadian biorhythm is developed in humans

1) after 24 hours;

2) after 6 months;

3) after 3-4 weeks.

The resistance of the body is the highest ...

1) in the morning hours;

2) in the evening hours;

Answers

1 -2; 2 – 1; 3 – 2; 4 – 2; 5 – 3; 6 – 3; 7 – 2; 8 – 3; 9 – 3; 10 – 1.

Tasks

The pineal gland produces the hormone melatonin, which inhibits the action of gonadotropic hormones. Light inhibits the synthesis of melatonin. Can it be argued on this basis that the pineal gland takes part in the regulation of annual rhythms of fertility in mammals?

During the summer holidays, the students flew from Vladivostok to Moscow. With a sharp change in time zones, the work of the body was disturbed: appetite worsened, working capacity decreased, drowsiness during the day and insomnia at night were observed, pressure slightly decreased (≈ 115/60 mm Hg). What is the name of this state? What advice would you give to students?

Why do you think some people get up easily in the morning and fall asleep in the evening, while others have difficulty?

Why do you think the lunar cycle is included in the civil calendar in India and China?

Answers

The more light (long day), the higher the activity of gonadotropic hormones, and, consequently, the sex hormones that regulate sexual behavior. Therefore, breeding periods occur in spring and summer.

This condition is called desynchronosis. It occurs when normal rhythms fail, which adversely affects a person’s well-being. In order to quickly adapt to changing conditions, it is necessary to adhere to the usual daily routine.

The reason is that the biological clock that determines sleep and wake cycles varies from person to person. Studies show that larks have shorter biological clock cycles than owls. This means that early risers sleep just when their sleep cycle is at its peak, and therefore wake up alert and refreshed. Night owls, on the other hand, are usually forced to wake up at the peak of their sleep cycle, at which time their melatonin levels are elevated and they feel drowsy and tired.

One of the most important biorhythms is menstruation. The monthly biorhythm refers to the lunar cycle, the duration of which is 29.5 days. The lunar cycle has a huge impact on all processes occurring on our planet: sea tides, breeding periods in animals, the intensity of oxygen uptake by plants, etc. The change in the phases of the moon is felt especially clearly by people experiencing health problems. For example, on new moon days, when the gravitational influence of the Moon on the Earth's shell is especially strong, the number of recurrences of diseases of the cardiovascular system increases, brain activity decreases, and the number of mental disorders increases.

Questions for self-control

What is the chronon hypothesis?

What is acrophase, bathyphase, mesor, period, frequency, amplitude of a biorhythm?

How do geosocial biorhythms differ from geophysical ones?

What is the difference between physiological and geosocial biorhythms?

What is the biological clock and where is it located?

At what time of the day is the resistance of the organism the highest?

Literature

Main:

normal physiology. Textbook. / Ed. V.M. Smirnova. – M.: Academy, 2010

normal physiology. Textbook. / Ed. A.V., Zavyalova. V.M. Smirnova.- M.: "Medpress-inform", 2009

Guide to practical exercises in normal physiology / Ed. CM. Budylina, V.M. Smirnova. M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2005

Additional:

normal physiology. Textbook. / Under the editorship of V.N. Yakovlev. M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2006

normal physiology. Textbook. / Ed. R.S. Orlova, A.D. N Orlova. M. Publishing group "GEOTAR-Media", 2005

Situational tasks in normal physiology; edited by L.D. Markina. - Vladivostok: Medicine DV, 2005

Human physiology. Textbook./ Ed. V.M. Pokrovsky, G.F. Briefly. - M .: Medicine, 2003

Guide to practical exercises in physiology / Ed. K.V. Sudakova M.: Medicine, 2002

Human physiology. Textbook./ Ed. ON THE. Agadzhanyan, V.I. Tsirkin.-SP.: SOTIS, 2002

Human physiology. Textbook./ Ed. V.M. Smirnova. M.: Medicine, 2002