Cassone Vincent M
Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, United States.
Front Neuroendocrinol. 2014 Jan;35(1):76-88. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2013.10.002. Epub 2013 Oct 21.
In birds, biological clock function pervades all aspects of biology, controlling daily changes in sleep: wake, visual function, song, migratory patterns and orientation, as well as seasonal patterns of reproduction, song and migration. The molecular bases for circadian clocks are highly conserved, and it is likely the avian molecular mechanisms are similar to those expressed in mammals, including humans. The central pacemakers in the avian pineal gland, retinae and SCN dynamically interact to maintain stable phase relationships and then influence downstream rhythms through entrainment of peripheral oscillators in the brain controlling behavior and peripheral tissues. Birds represent an excellent model for the role played by biological clocks in human neurobiology; unlike most rodent models, they are diurnal, they exhibit cognitively complex social interactions, and their circadian clocks are more sensitive to the hormone melatonin than are those of nocturnal rodents.
在鸟类中，生物钟功能贯穿生物学的各个方面，控制着睡眠与清醒的日常变化、视觉功能、鸣叫、迁徙模式与方向，以及繁殖、鸣叫和迁徙的季节性模式。昼夜节律钟的分子基础高度保守，鸟类的分子机制可能与包括人类在内的哺乳动物所表达的机制相似。鸟类松果体、视网膜和视交叉上核中的中央起搏器动态相互作用，以维持稳定的相位关系，然后通过控制行为的大脑和外周组织中的外周振荡器的同步来影响下游节律。鸟类是生物钟在人类神经生物学中所起作用的极佳模型；与大多数啮齿动物模型不同，它们是昼行性的，表现出认知复杂的社会互动，并且它们的生物钟比夜行性啮齿动物的生物钟对褪黑素更敏感。
