Circadian modulation of interval timing in mice

Abstract

Temporal perception is fundamental to environmental adaptation in humans and other animals. To deal with timing and time perception, organisms have developed multiple systems that are active over a broad range of order of magnitude, the most important being circadian timing, interval timing and millisecond timing. The circadian pacemaker is located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus, and is driven by a selfsustaining oscillator with a period close to 24 h. Time estimation in the second-to-minutes range -known as interval timing -involves the interaction of the basal ganglia and the prefrontal cortex. In this work we tested the hypothesis that interval timing in mice is sensitive to circadian modulations. Animals were trained following the peak-interval (PI) procedure. Results show significant differences in the estimation of 24-second intervals at different times of day, with a higher accuracy in the group trained at night, which were maintained under constant dark (DD) conditions. Interval timing was also studied in animals under constant light (LL) conditions, which abolish circadian rhythmicity. Mice under LL conditions were unable to acquire temporal control in the peak interval procedure.Moreover, short time estimation in animals subjected to circadian desynchronizations (modeling jet lag-like situations) was also affected. Taken together, our results indicate that short-time estimation is modulated by the circadian clock.© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords:Circadian rhythms Interval timingBasal ganglia Suprachiasmatic nuclei IntroductionTiming and time perception are fundamental to survival and goal reaching in humans and other animals. Organisms have developed diverse mechanisms for timing across different scales, the most important being circadian timing, interval timing and millisecond timing . The circadian pacemaker -which is driven by a self-sustaining oscillator with a period close to 24 h -is located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus (Dunlap et al., 2004), and the principal signal that adjusts its activity is the light-dark cycle (Morin and Allen, 2006;Golombek and Rosenstein, 2010). The molecular mechanism of the endogenous circadian clock is comprised by interlocked transcription-translation feedback loops (Reppert and Weaver, 2002). On the other hand, the perception of shorter durations in the seconds-to-minutes range, known as interval timing, is crucial to learning, memory, decision making and other cognitive

Unwinding the Molecular Basis of Interval and Circadian Timing

“…Consistent with this account are the observations that time judgments in humans co-vary with normal circadian rhythms (Kuriyama et al, 2005) and are disrupted in shift workers (Pati and Gupta, 1994). Moreover, rats and mice exhibit circadian variations in time perception similar to those that have been demonstrated in humans (Shurtleff et al, 1990; Meck, 2001; Agostino et al, 2011). …”

“…Moreover, rats exhibit circadian variations in time perception similar to those that have been demonstrated in humans (Shurtleff et al, 1990; Meck, 1991). Recently, significant differences in the estimation of 24-s intervals at different times of day were reported in mice (Agostino et al, 2011). These differences were maintained under constant dark (DD) conditions.…”

Dissociations between interval timing and intertemporal choice following administration of fluoxetine, cocaine, or methamphetamine

“…The unrewarded trials allow investigators to probe time estimations without interruption. Previous studies using the PI procedure in humans and other animals (e.g., Agostino et al, 2011b; Buhusi et al, 2009, 2013; Buhusi and Meck, 2007; Cheng and Meck, 2007; Church et al, 1994; Lake and Meck, 2013; MacDonald et al, 2007; Matell and Meck, 1999; Meck and Williams, 1997; Rakitin et al, 1998) have reliably obtained Gaussian response curves whose peak times and variances fit well with Weber’s law.…”

The influence of test experience and NK1 receptor antagonists on the performance of NK1R-/- and wild type mice in the 5-Choice Serial Reaction-Time Task

“…One possibility is that the time of testing affects animals' intervaltiming and, as a consequence, performance in Choice-Reaction Time tests (Sanchez-Roige et al, 2012;Smith et al, 2002). Interval-timing is under strong circadian control (Agostino et al, 2011) but it is also disrupted in sleep-deprived subjects (Spati et al, 2009), which could be an important factor in this study, because the mice were tested during the light-phase. The differences are unlikely to be related to the time elapsed since animals were last fed, because that would be expected to reduce latency to respond and latency to collect the reward, and yet these measures did not differ in the morning and afternoon.…”