A literature review on how will the amount of melatonin affect the activity rate on tenebrio monitor

Essay by caylaboodramJunior High, 9th gradeA+, November 2014

download word file, 6 pages 0.0

Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural hormone made by your body's pineal (pih-knee-uhl) gland. This is a pea-sized gland located just above the middle of the brain. During the day the pineal is inactive. When the sun goes down and darkness occurs, the pineal is "turned on" by the SCN and begins to actively produce melatonin, which is released into the blood. Usually, this occurs around 9 pm. As a result, melatonin levels in the blood rise sharply and you begin to feel less alert. Sleep becomes more inviting. Melatonin levels in the blood stay elevated for about 12 hours - all through the night - before the light of a new day when they fall back to low daytime levels by about 9 am. Daytime levels of melatonin are barely detectable.

http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/melatonin-and-sleep

What is melatonin?

Melatonin is a hormone produced in the brain that helps regulate your sleep and wake cycle.

Melatonin is most commonly used to treat insomnia, jet lag, and to aid in giving up smoking or long-term use of anti-anxiety medicine (Valium). It is also used to help regulate sleep/wake cycles in people who are blind.

Melatonin has also been used in alternative medicine as an aid to treat insomnia caused by Alzheimer's disease or depression.

http://www.drugs.com/melatonin.html

In humans, its

primary role is that of a circadian pacemaker,

and exogenous melatonin has a welldocumented

soporific effect when taken during

the daytime or early evening

successfully used to treat various sleep-cycle

disturbances in children with chronic sleep

disorders by decreasing sleep onset latency

Impulse: The Premier Journal for Undergraduate Publications in the Neurosciences

2009

People use melatonin to adjust the body's internal clock. It is used for jet lag, for adjusting sleep-wake cycles in people whose daily work schedule changes (shift-work disorder), and for helping blind people...