Noradrenergic control of circadian rhythms in Cebus albifrons.

Abstract

AbstractManifestation of biologic oscillations (e.g., body temperature 24‐hour wave form) is the summation of the exogenous and endogenous response mechanisms of the biologic clock. Biologic rhythm asynchrony results from a rapid change in the environment presented to the time sensors. The destruction of noradrenergic terminals in a male Cebus albifrons by 6‐hydroxydopa interrupted the transmission of information from the defined environment to the biologic clock as evidenced by removal of the exogenous components of the 24‐hour deep body‐temperature (DBT) wave form; i.e., decrease in DBT rhythm was no longer associated to lights off, and the level about which this rhythm fluctuated was reduced. In contrast the daily heart rate rhythm was less affected.