1. an innate mechanism of the body that regulates its rhythmic and periodic cycles, as that of sleeping and waking.
Examples from the web for biological clock
- Anyway, that was a good scientific study utilizing the knowledge that repeated naps do not reset the biological clock.
- But when one team has had more time to adjust its biological clock than the other, the advantage begins.
- He speculates that great whites also possess a biological clock and a heightened spatial sense.
- Some experts believe the short days and long nights affect the body's biological clock, or circadian rhythm.
- For this reason, the biological clock must be reset or corrected every day of normal life.
- The sleep-wake cycle is dictated by an inherent biological clock or circadian rhythm.
British Dictionary definitions for biological clock
noun 1. an inherent periodicity in the physiological processes of living organisms that is not dependent on the periodicity of external factors
2. the hypothetical mechanism responsible for this periodicity
biological clock in Medicine
biological clock n.
An innate mechanism in living organisms that controls the periodicity or rhythm of various physiological functions or activities.
biological clock in Science
biological clock (bī'ə-lŏj'ĭ-kəl)
An internal system that controls an organism's circadian rhythms, the cycles of behavior that occur regularly in a day. In mammals, the biological clock is located near the point in the brain where the two optic nerves cross. In many birds, the biological clock is located in the pineal gland. In protists and fungi, the individual cells themselves regulate circadian rhythms.
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biological clock in Culture
biological clock definition
The innate rhythm of behavior and body activity in living things. A twenty-four-hour cycle of body activity, which operates in some organisms, is called the circadian rhythm.
Note: Although the term biological clock refers to all innate timing mechanisms, it is often used when describing certain body functions that are subject to this rhythm, such as the loss of fertility with age.