Biomedical subjects

S G Reebs

Publications and source records attributed to S G Reebs.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Preference for bedding material in Syrian hamsters.

This study aimed to determine whether Syrian (golden) hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus, prefer certain bedding materials and whether bedding material can affect paw condition, body weight gain and wheel-running activity. In a first experiment, 26 male hamsters had access to two connected cages, each cage containing a different bedding material (either pine shavings, aspen shavings, corn cob or wood pellets). In a second experiment, 14 male hamsters had access to four connected cages that contained the different bedding materials and also a piece of paper towel to serve as nest material. In a third experiment, 30 male hamsters were each placed in a single cage, 10 of them with pine shavings, 10 with aspen shavings and 10 with corn cob, and they were monitored for 50 days. Significant preferences in the first experiment were: pine shavings over aspen shavings, corn cob over wood pellets, pine shavings over corn cob and aspen shavings over wood pellets (aspen shavings versus corn cob was not tested). However, there was no significant preference expressed in the second experiment, suggesting that the general preference for shavings in the first experiment was based on bedding material suitability as a nesting material. No significant effect of bedding material on paw condition, body weight gain and wheel-running activity was detected. None of the four bedding materials tested in this study can be judged to be inappropriate in the short term if nesting material is added to the cage and if the litter is changed regularly.

Animal Welfare↗

PubMed2005

Running wheel choice by Syrian hamsters.

The present study investigated the preference of male and female Syrian hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus, for different types of running wheels. Hamsters were placed individually in sets of multiple cages linked by tunnels, each cage with a different running wheel. The number of wheel revolutions in each cage was tallied daily over 40 days. The hamsters did not express a preference when offered a choice of a running surface made of metal rods spaced 9 mm apart and a similar running surface covered in plastic mesh to prevent the possible slippage of feet between the rods. The hamsters did express a clear preference for larger wheels (35 versus 23 cm diameter), and for completely circular wheels over truncated ones. They neither favoured nor rejected wheels with small obstacles along the running surface. In all experiments, preferences were more strongly expressed by males than by females. Running wheels for hamsters may be improved by enlarging their diameter (to the standards often used for rats, if practically possible) and by ensuring good footing on the running surface (a space no larger than 9 mm between evenly spaced rods seems sufficient to achieve this, at least in large wheels and for hamsters older than 55 days). Installing obstacles along the running surface does not appear to make the wheel more interesting to hamsters.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Phase-shifting effects of dusklike and dawnlike light pulses on the circadian activity rhythms of Syrian hamsters.

This study tested whether light pulses with a dusklike offset or a dawnlike onset caused phase shifts of different sizes in the circadian wheel-running activity of Syrian hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus. Six experiments were conducted, each with 30 hamsters; the hamsters received first one type of pulse and then the other type a few weeks later, allowing a paired comparison. The six experiments represented the combination of two maximum light intensities (150 and 250 lux) and three zeitgeber times (ZTs) at which the pulses were given (ZT13.5, ZT14.5, and ZT20). Pulses were 30 minutes long, a relatively short duration to minimize circadian time effects. Aschoff's type II method of measuring phase shifts was used. In none of the six experiments did a two-tailed paired t test detect a significant difference in the size of phase shifts caused by dusklike versus dawnlike pulses. A three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the combined data from all six experiments (with pulse type, pulse intensity, and ZT as factors) also failed to detect a significant effect of pulse type. Statistical power was calculated and found to be reasonably good. These negative results are in line with those of a previous study in which a different methodology was used.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1997

Relationship between circadian period and size of phase shifts in Syrian hamsters.

In response to a light pulse, hamsters normally generate phase advances that are positively correlated with the length of their circadian period (tau). To determine whether this is a general property of the phase-shifting oscillator, the present study looked for a correlation between tau and phase-advance size not only for photic but also for nonphotic shifts. Syrian hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus, were entrained to light-dark cycles with a periodicity of either 23.67 h (the short-T group) or 24.33 h (the long-T group); after release into constant darkness, the short-T and long-T groups exhibited short and long taus, respectively. These animals were then induced to run in a novel exercise wheel for 3 h, starting at circadian time (CT) 7, or were exposed to 20 min of light, starting at CT 19. The size of the ensuing phase advances did not differ between the short-T and long-T groups not only for the nonphotic stimulus but also for the photic one, an unexpected result for the photic stimulus. Within the short-T groups for photic and nonphotic stimuli, the shorter tau was, the larger the phase advances were, another unexpected relationship. Another experiment where phase delays were induced by light pulses at CT 15 also failed to yield significant differences between the short-T and long-T groups. Independently of their after-effects on tau, T cycles may influence the capacity of the pacemaker to phase shift in ways that are still unclear but at least similar for both photic and nonphotic shifts.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Aftereffects of scheduled daily exercise on free-running circadian period in Syrian hamsters.

This study examined whether a nonphotic factor, scheduled daily exercise, could cause aftereffects on the free-running circadian period of Syrian hamsters. Groups of hamsters were kept under a cycle of 14-h light:10-h dark with access to their running wheel for only 3 h a day. Depending on the group, this 3-h period coincided with early day, midday, late day, early night, or late night. Controls did not have access to wheels. After 12 days, all hamsters were released into constant darkness (DD) and given free access to their wheel. Late-day runners showed a significantly shorter free-running period in DD compared to night runners and to controls, indicating that free-running periods can be shortened by nonphotic factors in this species. On the first day of DD, the activity onset of hamsters preceded (midday and late-day runners), coincided with (night runners and controls), or followed (early day runners) the previous time of D onset. Advanced activity onsets in late-day runners were consistent with both their short free-running periods and probable phase-advancing effects of late-day exercise; in contrast, delayed activity onsets in early day runners could only be explained by phase-delaying effects of the scheduled exercise.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1989

Behavioural entrainment of circadian rhythms.

This paper reviews the discovery and characterization of a behavioural system for entrainment of circadian rhythms. This behavioural system depends on non-photic inputs but interacts with the light-entrainment system. Non-photic stimuli can be powerful quantitatively: behavioural events can shift rhythms by several hours. Non-photic entrainment offers scope for rephasing biological rhythms in circumstances where light input from the environment is inadequate.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Running activity mediates the phase-advancing effects of dark pulses on hamster circadian rhythms.

Pulses of darkness can phase-shift the circadian activity rhythms of hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus, kept in constant light. Dark pulses under these conditions alter photic input to the circadian system, but they also commonly trigger wheel-running activity. This paper investigates the contribution of running activity to the phase-shifting effects of dark pulses. A first experiment showed that running activity by itself can phase-shift rhythms in constant light. Hamsters were induced to run by being confined to a novel wheel for 3-5 h. When this was done at circadian times (CT) 0, 6, and 9, the mean steady-state phase-shifts were 0.6 h, 3.5 h, and 2.3 h, respectively. The latter two values are at least as large as those previously obtained with dark pulses of similar durations and circadian phases. A second experiment showed that restricting the activity of hamsters during 3-h dark pulses at CT 9 reduces the amplitude of the phase-shifts. Unrestrained animals phase-advanced by 1.1 h, but this shift was halved in animals whose wheel was locked, and completely abolished in animals confined to nest boxes during the dark pulse. Activity restriction in itself (without dark pulses) had only minimal phase-delaying effects on free-running rhythms when given between ca. CT 10 and CT 13. These results support the idea that, in hamsters at least, dark pulses affect the circadian system mostly by altering behavioural states rather than by altering photic input to the internal clock.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Large phase-shifts of circadian rhythms caused by induced running in a re-entrainment paradigm: the role of pulse duration and light.

Bouts of induced wheel-running, 3 h long, accelerate the rate of re-entrainment of hamsters' activity rhythms to light-dark (LD) cycles that have been phase-advanced by 8 h (Mrosovsky and Salmon 1987). The bouts of running are given early in the first night of the new LD cycle, and by the second night the phase advance in activity onset already averages 7 h. Such large shifts contrast with the mean phase advance of less than 1 h at the peak of the phase response curve when hamsters in constant darkness (DD) experience 2-h pulses of induced activity (Reebs and Mrosovsky 1989). The present paper investigates pulse duration and light as possible causes for the discrepancy in shift amplitude between these two studies. In a first experiment, pulses of induced wheel-running 1 h, 3 h, or 5 h long were given at circadian times (CT) 6 and 22-2 to hamsters free-running in DD. Pulses given at CT 6 caused phase-advances of up to 2.8 h, whereas pulses at CT 22-2 resulted in delays of up to 1.0 h. Shifts after 3-h and 5-h pulses did not differ, but were larger than after 1-h pulses, and larger than after the 2-h pulses given in DD by Reebs and Mrosovsky (1989). Thus 3 h appears to be the minimum pulse duration necessary to obtain maximum phase-shifting effects. In a second experiment, the re-entrainment design of Mrosovsky and Salmon (1987) was repeated with the light portion of the shifted LD cycle eliminated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Effects of induced wheel running on the circadian activity rhythms of Syrian hamsters: entrainment and phase response curve.

The goal of this study was to provide an example of nonsocial and nonphotic entrainment in Syrian hamsters, together with a corresponding phase response curve (PRC). Fourteen male hamsters were given 2-hr bouts of induced activity (mostly wheel running) at 23.83-hr intervals in constant darkness (DD). The activity onsets of 10 hamsters entrained to this manipulation, with no anticipatory activity present. After entrainment, the rhythms resumed free-running from a time 0.66-3.91 hr after the onset of the last bout of induced activity. Postentrainment free-running periods were shorter than pre-entrainment values. The PRC for 2-hr pulses of induced activity in DD revealed phase advances induced in some animals between circadian time (CT) 4 and CT 11 (approximately the last half of the hamsters' rest period), and delays between CT 23 and CT 3 and between CT 17 and CT 20. The CTs for phase advances are compatible with the phase angle differences observed between rhythm and zeitgeber at the end of entrainment. Many features of the results (not all animals entraining, PRC characteristics, lack of observable anticipation to the daily stimuli, phase relationship between zeitgeber and activity rhythms) are similar to those from a previous study on social entrainment in this species (Mrosovsky, 1988). These similarities reinforce the idea that induced activity and social zeitgebers act on activity rhythms via a common mechanism.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Daily food-anticipatory activity in golden shiners. A test of endogenous timing mechanisms.

Shoals of four golden shiners, Notemigonus crysoleucas, were fed daily at a fixed time, which could be the beginning, middle, or end of a 12-h artificial day, or beginning, middle, or end of a 12-h artificial night, depending on the shoal. Almost all shoals showed food-anticipatory activity (FAA), that is, a gradual increase in locomotor activity near the feeder, starting on average 4.5 h before mealtime. FAA started before the time of lights-on or lights-off even in shoals that were fed 1 h after these times. Increases in activity near the feeder generally did not appear at times unrelated to feeding, except for some shoals that were fed around the time of either lights-on or lights-off and that showed high activity at both of those times simultaneously. When food was withheld but the light-dark cycle was preserved, FAA persisted at the old clock time in 78% of the shoals. When the light-dark cycle was eliminated (fish placed in constant darkness), with or without a concurrent removal of the scheduled feeding, FAA persisted at the old clock time in only 22% of the shoals. These results can be explained by a model whereby the animals possess a circadian oscillator that is entrained by the light-dark cycle, with only weak potential for self-sustainability, and where a representation of the normal phase of feeding can be stored in memory. The possibility that FAA was generated by a food-entrainable oscillator can only be reconciled with the data by postulating that this oscillator is normally linked to a light-entrainable oscillator, and that the damping out of the light-entrained oscillator disrupts the action of the food-entrainable one.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Phase-shifting the light-dark cycle influences food-anticipatory activity in golden shiners.

This study provides evidence that a circadian light-entrainable oscillator is at least partially involved in the timing of food-anticipatory activity (FAA) in a fish, the golden shiner, Notemigonus crysoleucas. Shoals of four golden shiners were fed for 11-20 days at a fixed daily time (either early night, midnight, late night, early day, midday, or late day). Most (78%) shoals developed peaks of FAA during that period of time. Food was then withheld for 7 days, and the light-dark (LD) cycle was either advanced or delayed by 6 h on the first of those days. The activity waveform of most (53-58%) shoals shifted along with the LD cycle, as indicated by significant correlation coefficients between pre- and postshift waveforms plotted relative to LD. Nonsignificant correlations were linked to low activity levels rather than to persistence of the activity peak at the old clock time. Activity shifts were gradual, taking 2-4 days, which indicates that the underlying mechanism is circadian rather than hourglass.

Animals↗