Improved jet lag recovery is associated with a weaker molecular biological clock response around the time of expected activity onset

IntroductionProperly timed environmental light input to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain is crucial in maintaining the 24-hour biological rhythm (circadian rhythm). However, light exposure at the wrong time of the day-night cycle is disruptive to circadian-regulated behaviors such as t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marie-Claire Boutrin, Melissa E. S. Richardson, Feyikemi Oriola, Samira Bolo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1535124/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832576316545695744
author Marie-Claire Boutrin
Melissa E. S. Richardson
Feyikemi Oriola
Samira Bolo
author_facet Marie-Claire Boutrin
Melissa E. S. Richardson
Feyikemi Oriola
Samira Bolo
author_sort Marie-Claire Boutrin
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionProperly timed environmental light input to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain is crucial in maintaining the 24-hour biological rhythm (circadian rhythm). However, light exposure at the wrong time of the day-night cycle is disruptive to circadian-regulated behaviors such as the sleep-wake cycle and memory. While factors such as jet lag, variations in day length, and light at night are known disruptors to the timing of activity onset following rest, the molecular consequence of the intersection of multiple disruptions is less understood.MethodsHere, we expose mice to a jet lag paradigm under two light-dark (LD) conditions (12:12 LD and 8:16 LD) coupled with additional light exposure at night during the recovery period (known as negative masking), previously demonstrated to improve jet lag-related memory loss in mice.ResultsOur results show that jet lag exposure in both LD cycles (to a greater extent in 8:16 LD) increased the fold-change of circadian gene expression in the SCN relative to the dark onset. The further addition of light during the jet lag recovery period reduced typical changes in circadian gene expression in the SCN to minimal levels under both LD cycles.DiscussionThis study uncovers a novel explanation for the impact of multiple disruptive light exposures on gene expression of the molecular SCN clock in the brain.
format Article
id doaj-art-09a3fc5c7c784e04a7e6fea37086dd49
institution Kabale University
issn 1662-5153
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
spelling doaj-art-09a3fc5c7c784e04a7e6fea37086dd492025-01-31T06:40:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532025-01-011910.3389/fnbeh.2025.15351241535124Improved jet lag recovery is associated with a weaker molecular biological clock response around the time of expected activity onsetMarie-Claire BoutrinMelissa E. S. RichardsonFeyikemi OriolaSamira BoloIntroductionProperly timed environmental light input to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain is crucial in maintaining the 24-hour biological rhythm (circadian rhythm). However, light exposure at the wrong time of the day-night cycle is disruptive to circadian-regulated behaviors such as the sleep-wake cycle and memory. While factors such as jet lag, variations in day length, and light at night are known disruptors to the timing of activity onset following rest, the molecular consequence of the intersection of multiple disruptions is less understood.MethodsHere, we expose mice to a jet lag paradigm under two light-dark (LD) conditions (12:12 LD and 8:16 LD) coupled with additional light exposure at night during the recovery period (known as negative masking), previously demonstrated to improve jet lag-related memory loss in mice.ResultsOur results show that jet lag exposure in both LD cycles (to a greater extent in 8:16 LD) increased the fold-change of circadian gene expression in the SCN relative to the dark onset. The further addition of light during the jet lag recovery period reduced typical changes in circadian gene expression in the SCN to minimal levels under both LD cycles.DiscussionThis study uncovers a novel explanation for the impact of multiple disruptive light exposures on gene expression of the molecular SCN clock in the brain.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1535124/fulljet lag recoverycircadian gene expressionmaster clockday lengthnegative masking
spellingShingle Marie-Claire Boutrin
Melissa E. S. Richardson
Feyikemi Oriola
Samira Bolo
Improved jet lag recovery is associated with a weaker molecular biological clock response around the time of expected activity onset
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
jet lag recovery
circadian gene expression
master clock
day length
negative masking
title Improved jet lag recovery is associated with a weaker molecular biological clock response around the time of expected activity onset
title_full Improved jet lag recovery is associated with a weaker molecular biological clock response around the time of expected activity onset
title_fullStr Improved jet lag recovery is associated with a weaker molecular biological clock response around the time of expected activity onset
title_full_unstemmed Improved jet lag recovery is associated with a weaker molecular biological clock response around the time of expected activity onset
title_short Improved jet lag recovery is associated with a weaker molecular biological clock response around the time of expected activity onset
title_sort improved jet lag recovery is associated with a weaker molecular biological clock response around the time of expected activity onset
topic jet lag recovery
circadian gene expression
master clock
day length
negative masking
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1535124/full
work_keys_str_mv AT marieclaireboutrin improvedjetlagrecoveryisassociatedwithaweakermolecularbiologicalclockresponsearoundthetimeofexpectedactivityonset
AT melissaesrichardson improvedjetlagrecoveryisassociatedwithaweakermolecularbiologicalclockresponsearoundthetimeofexpectedactivityonset
AT feyikemioriola improvedjetlagrecoveryisassociatedwithaweakermolecularbiologicalclockresponsearoundthetimeofexpectedactivityonset
AT samirabolo improvedjetlagrecoveryisassociatedwithaweakermolecularbiologicalclockresponsearoundthetimeofexpectedactivityonset