Desynchronization of biological rhythms in response to environmental factors

Abstract

The temporal structure and dynamics of biological rhythms were formed in the course of evolution under the influence of environmental factors. Circadian rhythm as a central one in biological objects developed in response to daily luminosity and temperature rhythms related to rotation of the Earth. New causative factors that could be involved in this process and affect the entire spectrum of biological rhythms emerged with the advent of space research. The discovery of solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field, and Earth’s magnetosphere revealed similar periodicity of biological rhythms and magnetic factors which suggests possible participation of the latter in the formation of the former. Disturbances in magnetic rhythms may lead to desynchronization of biological processes by the adaptive stress mechanism as exemplified by circadian rhythm disorders in response to jetlag. This hypothesis forwarded by the authors in the 1990s was confirmed by further investigations including those reported by foreign researchers.