Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Biological Rhythms
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (7)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Beersma, D. G. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Beersma, D. G. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Why and How Do We Model Circadian Rhythms?

Domien G. M. Beersma

University of Groningen, Department of Behavioral Biology, The Netherlandsd.g.m.beersma{at}rug.nl

In our attempts to understand the circadian system, we unavoidably rely on abstractions. Instead of describing the behavior of the circadian system in all its complexity, we try to derive basic features from which we form a global concept on how the system works. Such a basic concept is a model of reality. The author discusses why it is advantageous or even necessary to transform conceptual models into mathematical formulations. As examples to demonstrate those advantages, the author reviews 4 types of mathematical models: negative feedback models thought to operate within pacemaker cells, models on coupling between pacemaker cells to generate pacemaker output, oscillator models describing the behavior of the composite circadian pacemaker, and models describing how the circadian pacemaker influences behavior.

Key Words: mathematical models • circadian rhythms • concept modeling • computational modeling

Journal of Biological Rhythms, Vol. 20, No. 4, 304-313 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0748730405277388
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Biol RhythmsHome page
E. B. Klerman and M. St. Hilaire
Review: On Mathematical Modeling of Circadian Rhythms, Performance, and Alertness
J Biol Rhythms, April 1, 2007; 22(2): 91 - 102.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 J Biol RhythmsHome page
J. J. Chiesa, M. Angles-Pujolras, A. Diez-Noguera, and T. Cambras
History-Dependent Changes in Entrainment of the Activity Rhythm in the Syrian Hamster (Mesocricetus auratus)
J Biol Rhythms, February 1, 2006; 21(1): 45 - 57.
[Abstract] [PDF]