Seven-day human biological rhythms: An expedition in search of their origin, synchronization, functional advantage, adaptive value and clinical relevance

ABSTRACT

This fact-finding expedition explores the perspectives and knowledge of the origin and functional relevance of the 7 d domain of the biological time structure, with special reference to human beings. These biological rhythms are displayed at various levels of organization in diverse species – from the unicellular sea algae of Acetabularia and Goniaulax to plants, insects, fish, birds and mammals, including man – under natural as well as artificial, i.e. constant, environmental conditions. Nonetheless, very little is known about their derivation, functional advantage, adaptive value, synchronization and potential clinical relevance. About 7 d cosmic cycles are seemingly too weak, and the 6 d work/1 d rest week commanded from G-d through the Laws of Mosses to the Hebrews is too recent an event to be the origin in humans. Moreover, human and insect studies conducted under controlled constant conditions devoid of environmental, social and other time cues report the persistence of 7 d rhythms, but with a slightly different (free-running) period (τ), indicating their source is endogenous. Yet, a series of human and laboratory rodent studies reveal certain mainly non-cyclic exogenous events can trigger 7 d rhythm-like phenomena. However, it is unknown whether such triggers unmask, amplify and/or synchronize previous non-overtly expressed oscillations. Circadian (~24 h), circa-monthly (~30 d) and circannual (~1 y) rhythms are viewed as genetically based features of life forms that during evolution conferred significant functional advantage to individual organisms and survival value to species. No such advantages are apparent for endogenous 7 d rhythms, raising several questions: What is the significance of the 7 d activity/rest cycle, i.e. week, storied in the Book of Genesis and adopted by the Hebrews and thereafter the residents of nearby Mediterranean countries and ultimately the world? Why do humans require 1 d off per 7 d span? Do 7 d rhythms bestow functional advantage to organisms? Is the magic ascribed to the number 7 of relevance? We hypothesize the 7 d time structure of human beings is endogenous in origin – a hypothesis that is affirmed by a wide array of evidence – and synchronized by sociocultural factors linked to the Saturday (Hebrews) or Sunday (Christian) holy day of rest. We also hypothesize they are representative, at least in part, of the biological requirement for rest and repair 1 d each 7 d, just as the circadian time structure is representative, in part, of the biological need for rest and repair each 24 h.

KEYWORDS:

• Adaptive capacity
• chronotherapy
• circaseptan rhythms
• clinical applications
• functional value
• Hebraic week
• 7-day rhythms

Acknowledgements

We express deep gratitude to Maxime Ouanounou, who helped us better understand various Jewish behavioral rites, and Linda Sackett-Lundeen, who helped with the construction of the illustrations and finalization of our article.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest that influence the content of this review. This work was supported by the Tremel-Pontremoli donation to support the research activities of the Unité de Chronobiologie at the Fondation Adolphe de Rothschild in Paris, France.