To date, photic entrainment of the mammalian circadian system has been studied by following phase shifts of overt rhythms in the periphery governed by a circadian pacemaker located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The present study follows for the first time photic resetting of intrinsic rhythmicity of the SCN itself. Rats maintained under either a shorter photoperiod, with 12 h of light and 12 h of darkness per day, or under a long, 18:6-h light-dark photoperiod were exposed to a light stimulus during the dark period and then released into darkness, and the next day the SCN rhythm in the light-stimulated c-Fos protein immunoreactivity was followed as a marker of the SCN endogenous rhythmicity. After a light stimulus in the early night, the evening rise in the photic elevation of Fos protein photoinduction as well as the morning decline were phase delayed within one cycle. After a light stimulus in the late night, only the morning decline in the photic elevation of Fos was phase advanced the next night, not the evening rise; consequently, the interval enabling high photic elevation of Fos was reduced. After a light stimulus was administered around the middle of the night, the next night the evening rise in the light-stimulated Fos was eventually phase delayed, the morning decline was phase advanced, and the rhythm amplitude was reduced significantly; under 18:6-h light-dark, a mere 5-min light exposure exhibited such effects. The data indicate that resetting of the SCN rhythmicity in the light-elevated c-Fos 1 day after a resetting stimulus administration, i.e., during transient cycles, may proceed via nonparallel phase shifts of the evening rise and of the morning decline of the light-stimulated Fos, and via amplitude lowering and suggest a complex circadian pacemaking system in the rat SCN.
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus and Photic Entrainment of Circannual Rhythms in Ground Squirrels