Intact interval timing in circadian CLOCK mutants
Brain Research, (August 2008)Abstract
While progress has been made in determining the molecular basis for
the circadian clock, the mechanism by which mammalian brains time
intervals measured in seconds to minutes remains a mystery. An obvious
question is whether the interval-timing mechanism shares molecular
machinery with the circadian timing mechanism. In the current study,
we trained circadian CLOCK +/− and −/− mutant male mice in a peak-interval
procedure with 10 and 20-s criteria. The mutant mice were more active
than their wild-type littermates, but there were no reliable deficits
in the accuracy or precision of their timing as compared with wild-type
littermates. This suggests that expression of the CLOCK protein is
not necessary for normal interval timing.