Analysis of the circadian rhythm of body temperature

Abstract

Currently available methods for the analysis of circadian rhythms provide little help in the evaluation of the circadian rhythm of body temperature because they either assume that the circadian rhythm of body temperature approximates a cosine wave (which for many species is not true) or simply do not address important parameters, such as the amplitude and the shape of the temperature rhythm. The present paper presents methods for the computation and statistical evaluation of the period, amplitude, mean level, and general shape of the circadian rhythm of body temperature. The period is analyzed by the periodogram procedure, whereas the other parameters are analyzed by the histogram method. Both procedures are simple to implement and relatively insensitive to spurious data points. A simplified but fully operational program in BASIC is provided. © 1992 Psychonomic Society, Inc.