Colour as a signal for entraining the mammalian circadian clock.

ABSTRACT: Twilight is characterised by changes in both quantity ("irradiance") and quality ("colour") of light. Animals use the variation in irradiance to adjust their internal circadian clocks, aligning their behaviour and physiology with the solar cycle. However, it is currently unknown whether changes in colour also contribute to this entrainment process. Using environmental measurements, we show here that mammalian blue-yellow colour discrimination provides a more reliable method of tracking twilight progression than simply measuring irradiance. We next use electrophysiological recordings to demonstrate that neurons in the mouse suprachiasmatic circadian clock display the cone-dependent spectral opponency required to make use of this information. Thus, our data show that some clock neurons are h

SUBMITTER: Walmsley L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4401556 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature