Neural Mechanisms of Food-Anticipatory Circadian Rhythms in Rats (original) (raw)
Circadian rhythms of behavior and physiology in rodents are regulated by a system of endogenous circadian oscillators synchronized to the external environment by two distinct pacemakers that are mutually coupled under normal conditions. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the master light-entrainable pacemaker (LEP) that mediates synchrony to the day-night cycle. The second pacemaker is a food-entrainable pacemaker (FEP) and has yet to be identified, but is capable of synchronizing circadian rhythms to restricted feeding (RF) schedules independent of the SCN. Rat, hamster and mouse behavior and physiology entrains to RF despite complete SCN ablations. The studies that comprise this dissertation examine two candidate FEP structures: the thalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVT); and the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH). Both the PVT and DMH are promising targets given evidence suggesting they: 1) are active in anticipation of the feeding window (as described in glucose metabolism and c-f...
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