Effects of the TAU Mutation on Circadian Organization
Abstract
As a consequence of the abbreviated grant period (11 months), we did not make as much progress as we anticipated in our original 3-year proposal. We finished and published a study on c-fos expression in the SCN of tau mutant hamsters. We demonstrated a correlation between phase-shifting and Fos induction thresholds under conditions where both responses are dramatically altered by the previous light history, suggesting a casual association between changes in behavioral phase shifting and c-fos in the SCN. We finished and published a lengthy study of multiunit electrical activity (MUA) rhythms recorded from the SCN and other brain areas of awake, behaving hamsters. The study was something of a technical tour-de-force. There are only one or two others like it in the circadian literature. We modeled the pacemaker system of the tau mutant hamster using computer simulation. These simulations led to two primary conjectures: (1) the total amplitude of the pacemaker system in tau mutant hamsters is less than in wild type animals, and (2) the coupling between the unit E and M oscillators is weakened during continuous exposure of hamsters to DD.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 30, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA379434
Entities
People
- Michael Menaker
Organizations
- University of Virginia