The role of the circadian system in fractal neurophysiological control

• Published in: Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Vol. 88; no. 4; pp. 873 - 894
• Main Authors: Pittman-Polletta, Benjamin R., Scheer, Frank A. J. L., Butler, Matthew P., Shea, Steven A., Hu, Kun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2013
• Subjects: Adaptability; Animals; Biological Clocks - physiology; Biology; Central Nervous System - physiology; circadian biology; Circadian rhythm; Circadian rhythms; Fluctuations; fractal fluctuations; fractal physiology; Fractals; Heart rate; Neurophysiology; nonlinear dynamics; Pathology; physiological control; Physiology; scale-invariance; spontaneous motor activity; suprachiasmatic nucleus; heart rate; fractal fluctuations; spontaneous motor activity; physiological control; fractal physiology; suprachiasmatic nucleus; nonlinear dynamics; circadian biology; scale-invariance

ABSTRACT Many neurophysiological variables such as heart rate, motor activity, and neural activity are known to exhibit intrinsic fractal fluctuations – similar temporal fluctuation patterns at different time scales. These fractal patterns contain information about health, as many pathological condi...