Chronobiology
A field of study that focuses on biological cycles and timekeeping
Examples of rhythms:
- ultradian
- circadian
- infradian
- tidal
- lunar
- gene oscillations
- circaseptan (seven-day biological cycle, e.g., relevant to the immune system activity)
- circatrigintan (menstrual)
- circannual cycles
Relevant terms:
- biological timekeeping
- rhythms of life
- biological clocks
- chronomics
- chronoecology
Definitions
Chronobiology is the science of periodic changes in physiology and behaviour of living organisms.
Halberg, Franz. ‘Chronobiology’. Annual Review of Physiology 31, no. 1 (1969): 675–726. https://doi.org/10/b9xr44.
The study of recurring cycles of events in the natural world.
Collin, Peter H. Dictionary of Environment & Ecology. 5th ed. 1985. Reprint, London: Bloomsbury, 2011.
For a brief introduction, see:
Roenneberg, Till, and Elizabeth B. Klerman. ‘Chronobiology’. Somnologie 23, no. 3 (2019): 142–46. https://doi.org/10/gf7cwt.
For the link to medicine, see:
Lange, Tanja. ‘Chronobiology’. In Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine, 459–63. Cham: Springer, 2020.
Methods
Statistical methods (chronobiometry)
References
Textbook:
Dunlap, Jay C., Jennifer J. Loros, and Patricia J. DeCoursey, eds. Chronobiology: Biological Timekeeping. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates, 2004.
Popular introduction:
Foster, Russell G., and Leon Kreitzman. Rhythms of Life: The Biological Clocks That Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing. London: Profile, 2005.
Techniques:
Forger, Daniel B. Biological Clocks, Rhythms, and Oscillations: The Theory of Biological Timekeeping. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2017.
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