title: Working for food shifts nocturnal mouse activity into the day.
abstract: Nocturnal rodents show diurnal food anticipatory activity when food access is restricted to a few hours in daytime. Timed food access also results in reduced food intake, but the role of food intake in circadian organization per se has not been described. By simulating natural food shortage in mice that work for food we show that reduced food intake alone shifts the activity phase from the night into the day and eventually causes nocturnal torpor (natural hypothermia). Release into continuous darkness with ad libitum food, elicits immediate reversal of activity to the previous nocturnal phase, indicating that the classical circadian pacemaker maintained its phase to the light-dark cycle. This flexibility in behavioral timing would allow mice to exploit the diurnal temporal niche while minimizing energy expenditure under poor feeding conditions in nature. This study reveals an intimate link between metabolism and mammalian circadian organization.
authors.affiliation: Chronobiology Unit, Center for Behavior and Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roelof A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hut
authors.forename: Violetta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pilorz
authors.forename: Ate S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Boerema
authors.forename: Arjen M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Strijkstra
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Daan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D003624:Darkness; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D017440:Photoperiod; D012201:Reward; D014937:Work / Q000502:physiology*