Circadian rhythms in spontaneous neuronal discharges of the cultured suprachiasmatic nucleus.
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is believed to play a major role in the generation and control of circadian rhythms in mammals. In order to obtain further evidence concerning this, single and multiple neuronal discharges were continuously recorded over a period of several days in neonatal rat SCN explants. These organotypic explants, which had been cultured for several weeks in a chemically defined medium, showed alternating high and low levels of spontaneous neuronal discharges with a periodicity around 24 h. Such explants can serve as a useful model to study the neuronal mechanisms underlying the generation of mammalian circadian rhythms.
Bos
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NP
Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Amsterdam.
Mirmiran
M
M
D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013493:Suprachiasmatic Nucleus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*