Davis F C, Stice S, Menaker M
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22901.
Physiol Behav. 1987;40(5):583-90. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(87)90101-6.
Entrainment of circadian rhythms by social communication between male and female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) was tested by recording the wheel-running activity of pairs kept in the same cage but separated by a wire mesh barrier. Before pairing, males and females were synchronized to light/dark cycles that were 180 degrees out of phase, and at the time of pairing the hamsters were placed into constant darkness (DD). The activity rhythms of males and females housed in a cage alone (isolated) were also recorded. The freerunning periods of paired and isolated hamsters were not different over six weeks in DD, and no phase-shifts of the paired animals' rhythms were seen, indicating that the close proximity of a hamster of the opposite sex had no effect on the timing of the other's activity/rest rhythm. This was not due to a lack of communication between the paired males and females. Males showed four-day cycles in the amount and distribution of activity which corresponded to the estrous cycle of the female, and regression of the reproductive system which occurred in the isolated hamsters was delayed in both the paired males and females. Despite the fact that locomotor activity and reproduction are each regulated in part by a circadian pacemaker, social stimuli can affect both of these without influencing the circadian pacemaker that underlies the activity/rest rhythm.
通过记录饲养在同一笼子但被金属丝网屏障隔开的成对叙利亚仓鼠（金仓鼠）的转轮活动，测试了雌雄叙利亚仓鼠之间社交交流对昼夜节律的调节作用。配对前，雄性和雌性仓鼠被同步到相差180度的光/暗周期，配对时将仓鼠置于持续黑暗（DD）环境中。还记录了单独饲养在笼子里（隔离）的雄性和雌性仓鼠的活动节律。在持续黑暗环境中六周内，配对和隔离仓鼠的自由活动周期没有差异，且未观察到配对动物节律的相位偏移，这表明异性仓鼠的近距离接触对另一方的活动/休息节律时间没有影响。这并非由于配对的雄性和雌性仓鼠之间缺乏交流。雄性仓鼠的活动量和分布呈现出四天的周期，这与雌性仓鼠的发情周期相对应，并且在隔离仓鼠中出现的生殖系统退化在配对的雄性和雌性仓鼠中均延迟。尽管运动活动和繁殖各自部分受昼夜节律起搏器调节，但社会刺激可以在不影响活动/休息节律基础的昼夜节律起搏器的情况下影响这两者。
