How do Circadian Rhythms Work?
The Circadian Rhythms are there to keep our body’s natural processes as optimised as possible, throughout various stages of the day. For example, plants know when to open up their flowers due to their own circadian rhythms, and animals that are nocturnal, or come out and hunt an night, know that leaving their nest or burrow during the day could be dangerous as there are more predators around. Circadian rhythms help to coordinate the processes that make us do what we do, and when we do it. For example, proteins are very important molecules as they are used for the repair and regulation of the body’s tissue and organs. Our digestive system breaks down proteins into amino acids, which are then turned back into more proteins. This results in the newly produced proteins being digested quicker once again, resulting in more proteins being broken down and recycled for our benefit. Our body knows to do this at mealtimes, because of our inbuilt circadian rhythms.
The way in which the circadian rhythm knows when to activate certain processes within the body is down to the master clock, also known as the circadian pacemaker. It is located in the brain, in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which is located in the area of the brain called the hypothalamus. At specific points during the day, this will kick in, and send signals to parts of the body to begin its process, resulting in a constant cycle. One of the main influences of circadian rhythms is light, and the reason is because is SCN is very sensitive to light. This is why circadian rhythms are also heavily linked to day and night cycles. For example, the proteins our digestive system produces are done during the day as we are able to act on these processes when we are awake, which can result in more coordinated bodily function.