Browsing by Author "Kriegsfeld, Lance J."
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- Circadian rhythms have broad implications for understanding brain and behaviorPublication . Silver, Rae; Kriegsfeld, Lance J.Circadian rhythms are generated by an endogenously organized timing system that drives daily rhythms in behavior, physiology and metabolism. In mammals, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus is the locus of a master circadian clock. The SCN is synchronized to environmental changes in the light:dark cycle by direct, monosynaptic innervation via the retino-hypothalamic tract. In turn, the SCN coordinates the rhythmic activities of innumerable subordinate clocks in virtually all bodily tissues and organs. The core molecular clockwork is composed of a transcriptional/post-translational feedback loop in which clock genes and their protein products periodically suppress their own transcription. This primary loop connects to downstream output genes by additional, interlocked transcriptional feedback loops to create tissue-specific ‘circadian transcriptomes’. Signals from peripheral tissues inform the SCN of the internal state of the organism and the brain’s master clock is modified accordingly. A consequence of this hierarchical, multilevel feedback system is that there are ubiquitous effects of circadian timing on genetic and metabolic responses throughout the body. This overview examines landmark studies in the history of the study of circadian timing system, and highlights our current understanding of the operation of circadian clocks with a focus on topics of interest to the neuroscience community.
- A time to remember: The role of circadian clocks in learning and memoryPublication . Smarr, Benjamin L.; Jennings, Kimberly J.; Driscoll, Joseph R.; Kriegsfeld, Lance J.The circadian system has pronounced influence on learning and memory, manifesting as marked changes in memory acquisition and recall across the day. From a mechanistic perspective, the majority of studies have investigated mammalian hippocampal-dependent learning and memory, as this system is highly tractable. The hippocampus plays a major role in learning and memory, and has the potential to integrate circadian information in many ways, including information from local, independent oscillators, and through circadian modulation of neurogenesis, synaptic remodeling, intracellular cascades, and epigenetic regulation of gene expression. These local processes are combined with input from other oscillatory systems to synergistically augment hippocampal rhythmic function. This overview presents an account of the current state of knowledge on circadian interactions with learning and memory circuitry and provides a framework for those interested in further exploring these interactions.