Chronobiology

upright=1.8|thumb|Overview, including some [[Physiology|physiological parameters, of the human circadian rhythm ("biological clock")]]

Chronobiology is a field of biology that examines timing processes, including periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms, such as their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms. These cycles are known as biological rhythms. Chronobiology comes from the ancient Greek χρόνος (chrónos, meaning "time"), and biology, which pertains to the study, or science, of life. The related terms chronomics and chronome have been used in some cases to describe either the molecular mechanisms involved in chronobiological phenomena or the more quantitative aspects of chronobiology, particularly where comparison of cycles between organisms is required.

Chronobiological studies include but are not limited to comparative anatomy, physiology, genetics, molecular biology and behavior of organisms related to their biological rhythms.

The circadian rhythm regulates behaviour including timing of the activity phase. Depending on their innate active phase, organisms can be classified into one of three categories:

Diurnal, which describes organisms active during daytime
Nocturnal, which describes organisms active in the night
Crepuscular, which describes animals primarily active during the dawn and dusk hours (ex: domestic cats, white-tailed deer, some bats)

While circadian rhythms are generated by endogenous processes, they can be regulated by both endogenous and exogenous signals. Other biological cycles may be regulated by exogenous signals, such as lunar rhythms in marine life being dictated by the lunar cycle.

Many other important cycles are also studied, including:

Infradian rhythms, which are cycles longer than a day. Examples include circannual or annual cycles that govern migration or reproduction cycles in many plants and animals, or the human menstrual cycle.
Ultradian rhythms, which are cycles shorter than 24 hours, such as the 90-minute REM cycle, the 4-hour nasal cycle, or the 3-hour cycle of growth hormone production.
Tidal rhythms, commonly observed in marine life, which follow the roughly 12.4-hour transition from high to low tide and back. When the process is less active, the cycle is in its bathyphase or trough phase. The particular moment of highest activity is the peak or maximum; the lowest point is the nadir.

History

A circadian cycle was first observed in the 18th century in the movement of plant leaves by the French scientist Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan. In 1751, Swedish botanist and naturalist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) designed a flower clock using certain species of flowering plants. By arranging the selected species in a circular pattern, he designed a clock that indicated the time of day by the flowers that were open at each given hour. For example, among members of the daisy family, he used the hawk's beard plant which opened its flowers at 6:30 am and the hawkbit which did not open its flowers until 7 am.

The 1960 symposium at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory laid the groundwork for the field of chronobiology.

It was also in 1960 that Patricia DeCoursey invented the phase response curve while studying light response in rodents, one of the major tools used in the field since.

Franz Halberg of the University of Minnesota, who coined the word circadian, is widely considered the "father of American chronobiology." However, it was Colin Pittendrigh and not Halberg who was elected to lead the Society for Research in Biological Rhythms in the 1970s. Halberg wanted more emphasis on the human and medical issues while Pittendrigh had his background more in evolution and ecology. With Pittendrigh as leader, the Society members did basic research on all types of organisms, plants as well as animals. More recently it has been difficult to get funding for such research on any other organisms than mice, rats, humans and fruit flies.

The role of Retinal Ganglion cells

Melanopsin as a circadian photopigment

In 2002, Hattar and his colleagues showed that melanopsin plays a key role in a variety of photic responses, including pupillary light reflex, and synchronization of the biological clock to daily light-dark cycles. He also described the role of melanopsin in ipRGCs. Using a rat melanopsin gene, a melanopsin-specific antibody, and fluorescent immunocytochemistry, the team concluded that melanopsin is expressed in some RGCs. Using a Beta-galactosidase assay, they found that these RGC axons exit the eyes together with the optic nerve and project to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the primary circadian pacemaker in mammals. They also demonstrated that the RGCs containing melanopsin were intrinsically photosensitive. Hattar concluded that melanopsin is the photopigment in a small subset of RGCs that contributes to the intrinsic photosensitivity of these cells and is involved in their non-image forming functions, such as photic entrainment and pupillary light reflex.

Distinct ipRGCs

Further research has shown that ipRGCs project to different brain nuclei to control both non-image forming and image forming functions. These brain regions include the SCN, where input from ipRGCs is necessary to photoentrain circadian rhythms, and the olivary pretectal nucleus (OPN), where input from ipRGCs control the pupillary light reflex. Hattar and colleagues conducted research that demonstrated that ipRGCs project to hypothalamic, thalamic, stratal, brainstem and limbic structures. Although ipRGCs were initially viewed as a uniform population, further research revealed that there are several subtypes with distinct morphology and physiology. has contributed to these findings and has successfully distinguished subtypes of ipRGCs.

Effect on mood

ipRGCs project to areas of the brain that are important for regulating circadian rhythmicity and sleep, most notably the SCN, subparaventricular nucleus, and the ventrolateral preoptic area. In addition, ipRGCs transmit information to many areas in the limbic system, which is strongly tied to emotion and memory. To examine the relationship between deviant light exposure and behavior, Hattar and his colleagues studied mice exposed to alternating 3.5-hour light and dark periods (T7 mice) and compared them with mice exposed to alternating 12-hour light and dark periods (T24 mice). Compared to a T24 cycle, the T7 mice got the same amount of total sleep and their circadian expression of PER2, an element of the SCN pacemaker, was not disrupted. Through the T7 cycle, the mice were exposed to light at all circadian phases. Light pulses presented at night lead to expression of the transcription factor c-Fos in the amygdala, lateral habenula, and subparaventricular nucleus further implicating light's possible influence on mood and other cognitive functions.

Mice subjected to the T7 cycle exhibited depression-like symptoms, exhibiting decreased preference for sucrose (sucrose anhedonia) and exhibiting more immobility than their T24 counterparts in the forced swim test (FST). Additionally, T7 mice maintained rhythmicity in serum corticosterone, however the levels were elevated compared to the T24 mice, a trend that is associated with depression. Chronic administration of the antidepressant Fluoxetine lowered corticosterone levels in T7 mice and reduced depression-like behavior while leaving their circadian rhythms unaffected.

Necessity of ipRGCs

Mice without (Opn4<sup>aDTA/aDTA</sup> mice) are not susceptible to the negative effects of an aberrant light cycle, indicating that light information transmitted through these cells plays an important role in regulation of mood and cognitive functions such as learning and memory.

Research developments

;Light and melatonin

More recently, light therapy and melatonin administration have been explored by Alfred J. Lewy (OHSU), Josephine Arendt (University of Surrey, UK) and other researchers as a means to reset animal and human circadian rhythms. Additionally, the presence of low-level light at night accelerates circadian re-entrainment of hamsters of all ages by 50%; this is thought to be related to simulation of moonlight.

In the second half of 20th century, substantial contributions and formalizations have been made by Europeans such as Jürgen Aschoff and Colin Pittendrigh, who pursued different but complementary views on the phenomenon of entrainment of the circadian system by light (parametric, continuous, tonic, gradual vs. nonparametric, discrete, phasic, instantaneous, respectively).

;Chronotypes

Humans can have a propensity to be morning people or evening people; these behavioral preferences are called chronotypes for which there are various assessment questionnaires and biological marker correlations.

;Mealtimes

There is also a food-entrainable biological clock, which is not confined to the suprachiasmatic nucleus. The location of this clock has been disputed. Working with mice, however, Fuller et al. concluded that the food-entrainable clock seems to be located in the dorsomedial hypothalamus. During restricted feeding, it takes over control of such functions as activity timing, increasing the chances of the animal successfully locating food resources.

;Diurnal patterns on the Internet

In 2018 a study published in PLoS ONE showed how 73 psychometric indicators measured on Twitter Content follow a diurnal pattern.

A followup study appeared on Chronobiology International in 2021 showed that these patterns were not disrupted by the 2020 UK lockdown.

;Modulators of circadian rhythms

In 2021, scientists reported the development of a light-responsive days-lasting modulator of circadian rhythms of tissues via Ck1 inhibition. Such modulators may be useful for chronobiology research and repair of organs that are "out of sync".

Neurological disorders

In 2021, scientists found that children with autism spectrum disorder are more likely to have disruptions in their sleep-wake cycle. Additionally, children with autism were also found more likely to have abnormal daily hormone cycles of cortisol, melatonin, and serotonin compared to the average person.

A 2017 study found that people with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have a delayed sleep phase in their circadian rhythm, meaning that they go to sleep later than the average person. An earlier study from 2013 found similar results to the 2017 study, but also found a correlation between Seasonal affective disorder, ADHD, and sleeping problems.

Physical diseases and disorders

In 2015, a study on the frequency of gout attacks found that they occur over twice as often in the night and early morning than other times of day. A 2021 study on osteoporosis found that disruption of circadian rhythms (such as working night shifts) can lead to osteoporosis by disturbing bone remodeling that typically happens at night.

Other fields

Chronobiology is an interdisciplinary field of investigation. It interacts with medical and other research fields such as sleep medicine, endocrinology, geriatrics, sports medicine, space medicine, psychiatry and photoperiodism.

References

External links

Halberg Chronobiology Center at the University of Minnesota, founded by Franz Halberg, the "Father of Chronobiology"
The University of Virginia offers an online tutorial on chronobiology.
See the Science Museum of Virginia publication Can plants tell time?
The University of Manchester has an informative Biological Clock Web Site
S Ertel's analysis of Chizhevsky's work