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Daily Rhythms in Olfactory Discrimination Depend on Clock Genes but Not the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
Daily changes in smell discrimination depend on internal clock genes but not the brain’s main timekeeper
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Abstract
Olfactory sensitivity increased approximately 6-fold from a minimum during the day to a peak in the early night.
- Circadian changes in olfactory discrimination may depend on a genetic clock outside the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).
- Olfactory sensitivity rhythms were observed even in mice with SCN lesions and those lacking the Npas2 gene.
- Loss of circadian olfactory sensitivity occurred in mice without Bmal1 or both Per1 and Per2 genes.
- Olfaction may represent a circadian behavior independent of locomotor activity and SCN function.
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