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Electrophysiological Approaches to Studying the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus

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Circadian Clocks

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2130))

Abstract

In mammals, the part of the nervous system responsible for most circadian behavior can be localized to a bilaterally paired structure in the hypothalamus known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Understanding the mammalian circadian system will require a detailed multilevel analysis of neural SCN circuits ex vivo and in vivo. Many of the techniques and approaches that are used for the analysis of the circuitry driving circadian oscillations in the SCN are similar to those employed in other brain regions. There is, however, one fundamental difference that needs to be taken into consideration, that is, the physiological, cell, and molecular properties of SCN neurons vary with the time of day. In this chapter, we will consider the preparations and electrophysiological techniques that we have used to analyze the SCN circuit focusing on the acute brain slice and intact, freely moving animal.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Neurophysiology, Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Stephan Michel & Johanna H. Meijer

  2. Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Department of Life Sciences, School of Agriculture, Meiji University, Tama-ku Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan

    Takahiro J. Nakamura

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Christopher S. Colwell

Authors
  1. Stephan Michel
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  2. Takahiro J. Nakamura
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  3. Johanna H. Meijer
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  4. Christopher S. Colwell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephan Michel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chronobiology and Sleep Research Group, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Steven A. Brown

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Michel, S., Nakamura, T.J., Meijer, J.H., Colwell, C.S. (2021). Electrophysiological Approaches to Studying the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus. In: Brown, S.A. (eds) Circadian Clocks. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2130. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0381-9_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0381-9_23

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-0380-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-0381-9

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