Helga Høgåsen
Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine, Oslo, Norway
Rhythmic phenomena exist in all living organisms, from unicellular
organisms to human being. These may strongly influence results obtained in
all fields of experimental or applied biology and medicine. Most
biorhythms are of endogenous nature, thus persist even under constant
environmental conditions. However, in contrast to random variables, they
are rhythmic in nature and therefore, to some extent, predictable.
Moreover, their rhythm may be timed by environmental cues such as light,
temperature, sounds, social interactions, food and water availability.
Therefore, the proper control of the environment of laboratory animals may
help reducing the variability between different animals or experiments.
Biorhythms should therefore be considered as unavoidable variables
although, to some extent, controllable ones.
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