A brain circuit and neuronal mechanism for decoding and adapting to change in daylength.

ABSTRACT: Changes in daylight amount (photoperiod) drive pronounced alterations in physiology and behaviour ^1,2 . Adaptive responses to seasonal photoperiods are vital to all organisms - dysregulation is associated with disease, from affective disorders ³ to metabolic syndromes ⁴ . Circadian rhythm circuitry has been implicated ^5,6 yet little is known about the precise neural and cellular substrates that underlie phase synchronization to photoperiod change. Here we present a previously unknown brain circuit and novel system of axon branch-specific and reversible neurotransmitter deployment that together prove critical for behavioural and sleep adaptation to photoperiod change. We found that the recently defined neuron type called mr En1-Pet1 ^7<

SUBMITTER: Maddaloni G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10515809 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature