Currently, the behavioural phenotyping of mutant strains is restricted by the paucity of tests for the cognitive capabilities of mice. Most of the paradigms at present available such as the water maze or passive avoidance are dependent upon an aversive component for conditioning and as a consequence the data can often be confounded by the non-specific effects of stress. The development of mutant or transgenic mouse models of human diseases that effect cognitive function will require this confound to be overcome. Here we highlight the value of using two apparently different paradigms, one exploring circadian control and the other visuospatial attention. The first provides an example of an elicited behaviour while the second requires learning; neither is aversive in nature. Interestingly, the data from each strengthens the interpretation of both.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0166-4328(01)00300-x | DOI Listing |
Front Neurosci
January 2025
Department of Neuroscience, Farber Institute for Neurosciences, Synaptic Biology Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Circadian rhythms play a crucial role in regulating behavior, physiology, and health. Sexual dimorphism, a widespread phenomenon across species, influences circadian behaviors. Additionally, post-mating physiological changes in females are known to modulate various behaviors, yet their effects on circadian rhythms remain underexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFEMS Microbiol Ecol
January 2025
School of Science, Engineering and Environment, Salford University, Manchester, UK.
Diurnal rhythms of the gut microbiota are emerging as an important yet often overlooked facet of microbial ecology. Feeding is thought to stimulate gut microbial rhythmicity, but this has not been explicitly tested. Moreover, the role of the gut environment is entirely unexplored, with rhythmic changes to gut pH rather than feeding per se possibly affecting gut microbial fluctuations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Microbiol
January 2025
Department of Neurology, Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Background: Depression is a common mental disorder accompanied by gut microbiota dysbiosis, which disturbs the metabolism of the host. While diurnal oscillation of the intestinal microbiota is involved in regulating host metabolism, the characteristics of the intestinal microbial circadian rhythm in depression remain unknown. Our aim was to investigate the microbial circadian oscillation signature and related metabolic pathways in a mouse model with depression-like behaviours.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhilos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
January 2025
Institute of Medical Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich 80336, Germany.
Sleep deficiency is associated with infectious disease risk. However, little is known about the individual roles of different aspects of sleep, including sleep duration, sleep quality, sleep timing (assessed by chronotype) and sleep regularity (in the form of social jet lag) in this context. Here, we examined associations of the probability of reporting a cold or other infections with self-reported sleep duration, sleep quality and chronotype in a sample of 642 adults, and with social jet lag in a subsample of 274 adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhilos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
January 2025
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, P.le L. Severi 1, Perugia 06132, Italy.
Circadian clocks are biological oscillators that evolved to coordinate rhythms in behaviour and physiology around the 24-hour day. In mammalian tissues, circadian rhythms and metabolism are highly intertwined. The clock machinery controls rhythmic levels of circulating hormones and metabolites, as well as rate-limiting enzymes catalysing biosynthesis or degradation of macromolecules in metabolic tissues, such control being exerted both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level.
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