FBS Colloquia No.266Laboratory of Synaptic Plasticity

Involvement of the biological clock in behavioral choices during rearing pups

Organisms on earth have acquired a biological clock as a mechanism that maintains the homeostasis of internal environment, even under the drastic day-night fluctuations that accompany the rotation of the Earth. The mammalian circadian clock is highly systematized and its center is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus at the bottom of the brain. According to the information output from the SCN, nocturnal animals are active at night-time and diurnal animals are active in the daytime. On the other hand, little is known about how several important behaviors are controlled under the biological clock. Here, we report recent observations on how rearing mice balance species survival with individual survival while allocating time to multiple behaviors.