Zeitgeber
Sign in to saveA zeitgeber ( , ) is any external or environmental cue that entrains or synchronizes an organism's biological rhythms, usually naturally occurring and serving to entrain to the Earth's 24-hour light/dark and 12-month cycles.
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Encyclopedic overview
10 sectionsContents
- History
- Photic and nonphotic zeitgebers
- Circadian rhythms
- Psychological effects of changes
- Cognitive performance
- Mood disorders
- Social zeitgebers and mood disorders
- Seasonal affective disorder
- See also
- References
A zeitgeber ( , ) is any external or environmental cue that entrains or synchronizes an organism's biological rhythms, usually naturally occurring and serving to entrain to the Earth's 24-hour light/dark and 12-month cycles.
==History== The term '''' () was first used by Jürgen Aschoff, one of the founders of the field of chronobiology. His work demonstrated the existence of endogenous (internal) biological clocks, which synchronize biological rhythms. In addition, he found that certain exogenous (external) cues, which he called zeitgeber, influence the timing of these internal clocks.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Zeitgeber” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.