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Neuronal oscillations on an ultra‐slow timescale: daily rhythms in electrical activity and gene expression in the mammalian master circadian clockwork
Author(s) -
Belle Mino D. C.,
Diekman Casey O.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/ejn.13856
Subject(s) - clockwork , circadian rhythm , neuroscience , suprachiasmatic nucleus , light effects on circadian rhythm , biology , clock , period (music) , rhythm , premovement neuronal activity , circadian clock , optogenetics , bacterial circadian rhythms , oscillating gene , medicine , physics , acoustics , astronomy
Neuronal oscillations of the brain, such as those observed in the cortices and hippocampi of behaving animals and humans, span across wide frequency bands, from slow delta waves (0.1 Hz) to ultra‐fast ripples (600 Hz). Here, we focus on ultra‐slow neuronal oscillators in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei ( SCN ), the master daily clock that operates on interlocking transcription‐translation feedback loops to produce circadian rhythms in clock gene expression with a period of near 24 h (< 0.001 Hz). This intracellular molecular clock interacts with the cell's membrane through poorly understood mechanisms to drive the daily pattern in the electrical excitability of SCN neurons, exhibiting an up‐state during the day and a down‐state at night. In turn, the membrane activity feeds back to regulate the oscillatory activity of clock gene programs. In this review, we emphasise the circadian processes that drive daily electrical oscillations in SCN neurons, and highlight how mathematical modelling contributes to our increasing understanding of circadian rhythm generation, synchronisation and communication within this hypothalamic region and across other brain circuits.