How Genes Influence Brain Responses to Expecting Food

Circadian clocks involve transcriptional loops of specific genes that help organisms anticipate environmental changes.

• The main circadian clock is located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the hypothalamus.
• Circadian oscillations of clock genes in this clock are primarily reset by light.
• A separate food-entrainable system prepares organisms for meal availability, though its exact brain location is uncertain.
• Food anticipation processes may involve transcriptional loops that differ from those in the light-entrainable system.
• Behavioral screening in mutant mice may have confounding effects on understanding meal anticipation.

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