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Interdependence between locomotor activity and duration of wakefulness in humans during isolation

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Summary

Locomotor activity was recorded in 14 subjects who lived singly in an isolation unit for 16 to 88 days. Their free-running circadian rhythms had a mean period of 25.9 h, with individual means in the duration of wakefulness (α) ranging from 12.1 to 22.9 h. Intraindividually, the hourly means of activity were negatively correlated with α to such a degree that the total amount of activity per ‘day’ remained constant irrespective of large variations in α.

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Aschoff, J. Interdependence between locomotor activity and duration of wakefulness in humans during isolation. Experientia 46, 870–871 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01935542

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01935542

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