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Perinatal photoperiod imprints the circadian clock

Nature Neuroscience volume 14, pages 25–27 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Using real-time gene expression imaging and behavioral analysis, we found that the perinatal photoperiod has lasting effects on the circadian rhythms expressed by clock neurons as well as on mouse behavior, and sets the responsiveness of the biological clock to subsequent changes in photoperiod. These developmental gene × environment interactions tune circadian clock responses to subsequent seasonal photoperiods and may contribute to the influence of season on neurobehavioral disorders in humans.

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Figure 1: Persistent effects of perinatal seasonal photoperiod on SCN slice rhythms, on SCN neuronal rhythms, and on behavior.
Figure 2: Interactions of perinatal seasonal photoperiod with subsequent seasonal photoperiod.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank J.Y. Cohen for kindly providing custom software programming. This work was supported by US National Institutes of Health grants P50 MH078028 (D.G.M.), T32 MH64913 and F31 MH080547 (C.M.C.).

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Author notes

  1. Karen L Gamble

    Present address: Present address: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

    Christopher M Ciarleglio & Douglas G McMahon

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

    Christopher M Ciarleglio, John C Axley, Benjamin R Strauss, Karen L Gamble & Douglas G McMahon

Authors
  1. Christopher M Ciarleglio
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  2. John C Axley
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  3. Benjamin R Strauss
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  4. Karen L Gamble
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  5. Douglas G McMahon
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Contributions

C.M.C. and D.G.M. designed the experiments. C.M.C., J.C.A. and B.R.S. performed the experiments and compiled the results. C.M.C. and K.L.G. performed statistical analyses. C.M.C. and D.G.M. wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Douglas G McMahon.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Supplementary Figures 1 and 2, Supplementary Tables 1–3, Supplementary Methods and Supplementary Results (PDF 427 kb)

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Ciarleglio, C., Axley, J., Strauss, B. et al. Perinatal photoperiod imprints the circadian clock. Nat Neurosci 14, 25–27 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2699

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