Plasticity in the Period of the Circadian Pacemaker Induced by Phase Dispersion of Its Constituent Cellular Clocks

The mammalian circadian pacemaker is commonly thought to be a rigid oscillator that generates output under a variety of circumstances that differ only in phase, period, and/or amplitude. Yet the pacemaker is composed of many cells that each can respond to varying circumstances in different ways. Computer simulations demonstrate that networks of such pacemaker cells behave differently under a light-dark cycle compared with constant darkness. The differences demonstrate that the circadian pacemaker is plastic: The pacemaker shapes its properties in response to the circumstances. A consequence is that properties of a pacemaker under a light-dark cycle cannot be derived from studies of the same system in constant darkness. In this paper we show that the dispersion of phase in a network of coupled oscillators can influence ensemble period: For the considered type of coupling, it is demonstrated that the more synchronous the cells are, the longer is the ensemble period. This is consistent with various data sets...