{"id":260900,"date":"2026-07-13T17:59:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/foundations-of-biopsychology-2nd-edition-wickens-a\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T17:59:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:59:42","slug":"foundations-of-biopsychology-2nd-edition-wickens-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/foundations-of-biopsychology-2nd-edition-wickens-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Foundations Of Biopsychology 2nd Edition – WICKENS A"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At \ufb01rst sight the existence of circadian body rhythms may not appear to be too surprising. After all, it is easy to imagine that they are directly caused by the world around us \u2013 possibly by the alternating periods of light and dark, which, somehow, affect the biological processes of the body. But this is not the case. In fact, instead of being passive responders to events around us, we have our own internal clocks that time and control the body\u2019s rhythms.<\/p>\n

And we are not alone as nearly every life-form has its own time-keeping mechanisms. For example, in 1729, the French astronomer DeMarian was intrigued when he noted that his heliotrope plant opened its leaves during the day and shut them at night. To examine this further, he shut his plant away in a dark cupboard and found that it continued to open and shut its leaves in time with the light and dark cycles outside. Thus, the leaf rhythm of the plant was controlled by its own innate mechanism.<\/p>\n

Similar circadian patterns have been found in creatures as simple as single-celled algae (Palmer 1975). In 1832, the Swiss botanist de Candolle performed an experiment similar to the one by DeMarian, but this time he noted something odd \u2013 when placed in the dark, his plant opened and shut its leaves every 22 hours, not every 24 hours.<\/p>\n

The plant therefore appeared to have an internal \u2018clock\u2019 that did not have a very accurate timing mechanism. In fact, this was the \ufb01rst demonstration of a \u2018free- running\u2019 rhythm \u2013 that is, a rhythm which was running at a speed that didn\u2019t quite match the outside world. Cut off from the normal cues of the environment, the plant was relying on its own, less than precise, timing mechanism. This also suggested that the plant was keeping accurate time (i.e. entraining itself to the rhythms of the outside world) by \u2018resetting\u2019 its clock by using external time cues such as periods of light and dark, temperature or humidity.<\/p>\n

Indeed, these stimuli are now known to be important regulators of circadian rhythms and are collec- tively called zeitgebers (from the German for \u2018time-givers\u2019). Free-running rhythms in humans What evidence is there that humans have internal biological clocks with their own time-keeping mechanism? To show that such clocks exist it is necessary to prove that circadian rhythms can still operate in the absence of time cues.<\/p>\n

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Visit the Foundations of Biopsychology, second edition Companion Website at www.pearsoned.co.uk\/wickens to find valuable student learning material including: \u2022 Learning objectives for each chapter \u2022 Multiple choice questions to help test your learning \u2022 Essay writing guide \u2022 Internet search guide \u2022 Mind Maps material focusing on the various parts of the brain Front cover image: Coloured 3-dimensional MRI scan of the white matter pathways of the brain, side view.<\/p>\n

White matter is composed of myelin-coated nerve cell fibres that carry information between nerve cells in the cerebrum of the brain (top half of image) and the brain stem (bottom centre). This image was created by an MRI scanner sensitised to the movement of water around the brain. Blue represents neural pathways from the top to the bottom of the brain, green represents pathways from the front (left) to the back (right), and red shows pathways between the right and left hemispheres of the brain.<\/p>\n

We work with leading authors to develop the strongest educational materials in psychology, bringing cutting-edge thinking and best learning practice to a global market. Under a range of well-known imprints, including Prentice Hall, we craft high-quality print and electronic publications which help readers to understand and apply their content, whether studying or at work. To find out more about the complete range of our publishing, please visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk Foundations of Biopsychology Second edition Andrew Wickens Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies throughout the world Visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk First published 2000 Second edition published 2005 \u00a9 Pearson Education Limited 2000 \u00a9 Pearson Education Limited 2005 The right of Andrew Wickens to be identi\ufb01ed as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.<\/p>\n

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.<\/em><\/p>\n

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