Environmental synchronizers of squirrel monkey circadian rhythms.

Various temporal signals in the environment were tested to determine if they could synchronize the circadian timing system of the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus). The influence of cycles of light and dark, eating and fasting, water availability and deprivation, warm and cool temperature, sound and quiet, and social interaction and isolation was examined on the drinking and activity rhythms of unrestrained monkeys. In the absence of other time cues, 24-h cycles of each of these potential synchronizers were applied for up to 3 wk, and the periods of the monkey's circadian rhythms were examined. Only light-dark cycles and cycles of food availability were shown to be entraining agents, since they were effective in determining the period and phase of rhythmic variables. In the presence of each of the other environmental cycles, the monkey's circadian rhythms exhibited free-running periods which were significantly different from 24 h with all possible phase relationships between the rhythms and the environmental cycles being examined.