Hi I remember lecturing years ago about someone spending extremely long periods of time in a cave. I believe even much longer than the Chilean miners. My recollection is that the individual gravitated toward a 25 hour sleep-wake cycle, but I could be wrong in that.
Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected] >>> "Dennis Goff" <[email protected]> 10-Nov-10 1:56 PM >>> The lights help to reset the SCN and synchronize the various circadian rhythms. That synchronization would have made the miners more "comfortable." I believe that Holland talked about that in the NPR interview. But I might have been reading that into his comments. Dennis ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Dennis M. Goff Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology Department of Psychology Randolph College (Founded as Randolph-Macon Woman's College in 1891) Lynchburg VA 24503 [email protected] From: DeVolder Carol L [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 2:44 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Chilean miners and circadian rhythms True, but the strongest driving stimulus is daylight (or light of sufficient lux), so there was the potential for some drift. After all, even shift workers have sleep problems. I suspect that their sleep would be more disrupted by the situation as a whole, rather than effects on circadian rhythm. I just thought this was interesting and thought I'd pass it on. Carol Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Chair, Department of Psychology St. Ambrose University Davenport, Iowa 52803 phone: 563-333-6482 e-mail: [email protected] From: Paul Brandon [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 1:35 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Chilean miners and circadian rhythms As i recall, the original sleep cycle studies attempting to identify an underlying circadian rhythm required heroic experimental control to exclude any 24hr cycle driving stimuli. Since I doubt that the Chilean situation came anyplace close to eliminating these cues (I assume they had watches), I'd doubt that there would have been significant drift even without the special lights (though they probably helped). Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected] On Nov 10, 2010, at 1:20 PM, DeVolder Carol L wrote: Hi, I found this interesting. I was looking for information on the effect being underground for so long had on the sleep/wake cycles of the Chilean miners and came across this bit of information from Dr. Albert Holland, a NASA psychologist: "Specialized circadian lights have been shipped down to the Chileans at their request, which will help and train their circadian rhythms. And also some circadian guidance on how to separate the light and dark and how to manage the groups through those light and dark spaces has been provided." I'm covering sleep/wake rhythms in class right now, so that's why I was looking for it. I thought maybe other tipsters might be at the same place or will be soon. The actual transcription of a NPR interview with Dr. Holland can be found here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130342897&ft=1&f=10 04 Just thought I'd pass it on. Carol --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=12990.f9c1b5bf25d49031367434c598ee9250 &n=T&l=tips&o=6370 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-6370-12990.f9c1b5bf25d49031367434c598ee9...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13169.2bfd597f06c032f81efb35e857e2dd91 &n=T&l=tips&o=6371 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-6371-13169.2bfd597f06c032f81efb35e857e2d...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=6372 or send a blank email to leave-6372-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=6374 or send a blank email to leave-6374-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
