Plasticity in the Period of the Circadian Pacemaker Induced by Phase Dispersion of Its Constituent Cellular Clocks.

ABSTRACT: The mammalian circadian pacemaker is commonly thought to be a rigid oscillator that generates output under a variety of circumstances that differ only in phase, period, and/or amplitude. Yet the pacemaker is composed of many cells that each can respond to varying circumstances in different ways. Computer simulations demonstrate that networks of such pacemaker cells behave differently under a light-dark cycle compared with constant darkness. The differences demonstrate that the circadian pacemaker is plastic: The pacemaker shapes its properties in response to the circumstances. A consequence is that properties of a pacemaker under a light-dark cycle cannot be derived from studies of the same system in constant darkness. In this paper we show that the dispersion of phase in a network of coup

SUBMITTER: Beersma DGM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5476183 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature