Neuronal Input Pathways to the Brain’s Biological Clock and their Functional Significance

• Main Authors: Hannibal, Jens (Author), Fahrenkrug, Jan (Author)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2006.
• Series: Advances in Anatomy Embryology and Cell Biology, 182
• Subjects: Medicine.; Biomedicine.; Biomedicine general.

Circadian rhythms are entrained daily by environmental photic and non-photic cues. The present review describes the anatomy and functional characteristics of the three major input pathways to the circadian clock mediating entrainment, the retino-hypothalamic tract (RHT), the geniculo-hypothalamic tr...

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
• The endogenous rhythm of the SCN
• The SCN molecular clock
• Photic regulation of the circadian rhythm
• Retinal input – Neuroanatomy
• Neurotransmitters in the RHT
• Glutamate and PACAP
• Other neurotransmitters of the RHT
• RHT neurotransmitter receptors in the SCN.-Melanopsin - an irradiance detecting photopigment of the RHT
• Retinal input - Physiology
• Non-photic regulation of the circadian rhythms
• Midbrain raphe input - Neuroanatomy
• 5-HT and regulation of the circadian system
• The intergeniculate leaflet and the geniculohypothalamic tract – neuroanatomy
• Effects of NPY on circadian rhythm during subjective day
• NPY modulates light-induced phase shift during subjective night
• Summary.