Photoperiod modifies circadian resetting responses in sparrows.

Abstract

Circadian responses to photoperiod were studied in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) by subjecting them to 4-h light pulses and measuring the subsequent phases of their circadian rhythms. The direction and magnitude of phase shifts in response to 4-h light pulses following pretreatment with light-dark cycles (LD) 16:8 or LD 8:16 varied with time of day; advances (3.4 h) occurred when pulses were imposed in the late subjective night on both groups of birds; delays (-2.1 h) occurred when the pulses were imposed in the early subjective night on the LD 8:16 birds. The time profiles for responses to light pulses that scanned 24 h (phase-response curves) were modified by long and short photoperiod. Short photoperiod 1) increased amplitude (1.7 h), 2) increased time from the prior lights-out to the peak of advances (6 h), and 3) decreased the mean phase shift (0.9 h).