BRAINTIME: The biological clock in the brain: circadian genes and the sense of time

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 02.0061

Key words (English)

Life Sciences; Medicine; Health; Scientific Research

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: QLG3-CT-2002-01829

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.1.8 Generic R&D activities

Short description (English)

See abstract

Abstract (English)

Human adaptation to modern 24-h society is constrained by dominant endogenous periodicities in physiology and behaviour. These rhythms, including the sleep-wake cycle, are generated in the brain's suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). Their understanding has major biomedical impact in the combat of sleep disorders, control of fatigue and risk, adjustment to shift work, timing of drug therapies. Big strides are being made in unraveling the physiological and molecular basis of circadian rhythms. Building on these advances we combine molecular, brain and behaviour studies to elucidate the control of sleep-wakefulness in mouse models and humans. Human studies focus on screening for phase variations in sleep-wake rhythms and their molecular characterization. Mouse strains with genetically modified circadian genes are exploited to characterize the mechanism underlying SCN oscillations and establish time-specific neuroanatomical mapping of circadian gene expression throughout the brain. Complementary expertise allows the assembly of a coherent picture of generation and synchronization of neuronal clocks involved in adaptation to a rotating planet.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 02.0061