Phase response curve

A phase response curve (PRC) illustrates the transient change in the cycle period of an oscillation induced by a perturbation as a function of the phase at which it is received. PRCs are used in various fields; examples of biological oscillations are the heartbeat, circadian rhythms, and the regular, repetitive firing observed in some neurons in the absence of noise.

In circadian rhythm research, a PRC illustrates the relationship between a treatment's time of administration and the treatment's effect on a circadian rhythm. Normally, the body's various physiological rhythms will be synchronized within an individual organism (human or animal). The sleep–wake cycle is the most familiar of these rhythms; for humans, a treatment designed to affect circadian rhythms will most often be intended to adjust sleep timing, by either delaying it to later in the day (night), or advancing it. Extreme morning people may want to delay their sleep timing; extreme evening chronotypes may wish to advance it.

A PRC is a graph showing, by convention, time of the subject's endogenous day along the x-axis and the amount of the phase shift (in hours) along the y-axis. The curve has one peak and one nadir in each 24-hour cycle. Relative circadian time is plotted vs. phase shift magnitude.

The two common treatments used to shift the timing of sleep are light therapy, directed at the eyes, and administration of the hormone melatonin, usually taken orally. Either or both can be used daily. Each of these treatments has its own PRC which will vary according to the species being studied; its shape may also vary individually, just slightly. The magnitude is dose-dependent. The discussions below are restricted to the human PRCs for the chronobiotics light and melatonin.

Starting about two hours before an individual's regular bedtime, exposure of the eyes to light will delay the circadian phase, causing later wake-up time and later sleep onset. The delaying effect gets stronger as evening progresses; it is also dependent on the wavelength and illuminance ("brightness") of the light. The effect is small in dim indoor lighting.

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