[Physiologic rhythm of sleep and waking].
Body’s natural daily cycle of sleep and wakefulness
AI simplified
Abstract
Light serves as a stimulus that entrains the body's circadian clock.
- The sleep-wake cycle is an endogenous rhythm aligned with the day/night cycle.
- Information about light is conveyed to the circadian pacemaker via the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT).
- The primary biological clock is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).
- The RHT may couple the circadian system to the external light/dark cycle.
AI simplified