In the mammalian brain, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the anterior hypothalamus is considered to be the principal circadian pacemaker, keeping the rhythm of most physiological and behavioral processes on the basis of light/dark cycles. Because restriction of food availability to a certain time of day elicits anticipatory behavior even after ablation of the SCN, such behavior has been ass...

Daily scheduled feeding is a potent time cue that elicits anticipatory activity in rodents. This food-anticipatory activity (FAA) is controlled by a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) that is distinct from light-entrained oscillators of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Circadian rhythms within the SCN depend on transcription-translation feedback loops in which CLOCK protein is a key positive r...

Phase-shifting effects of timed calorie restriction were investigated in mice during exposure to a 12:12-h light-dark cycle. Food-anticipatory activity (FAA), the output of a food-entrainable pacemaker, was expressed before the time of feeding whether mice received daily hypocaloric food (3.3 g of chow/day) or normocaloric food (5 g of chow/day) at zeitgeber time (ZT) 2 (ZT12 = lights off). Sub...

Circadian rhythms of behavior in rodents are regulated by a system of circadian oscillators, including a master light-entrainable pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus that mediates synchrony to the day-night cycle, and food-entrainable oscillators located elsewhere that generate rhythms of food-anticipatory activity (FAA) synchronized to daily feeding schedules. Despite progress in elucidat...

Male C57BL/6 mice fed ad libitum on control diet but allowed access to a palatable high fat diet (HFD) for 2 h a day during the mid-dark phase rapidly adapt their feeding behaviour and can consume nearly 80% of their daily caloric intake during this 2 h-scheduled feed. We assessed food intake microstructure and meal pattern, and locomotor activity and rearing as markers of food anticipatory act...

In rodents, daily feeding schedules induce food anticipatory activity (FAA) rhythms with formal properties suggesting mediation by food-entrained circadian oscillators (FEOs). The search for the neuronal substrate of FEOs responsible for FAA is an active area of research, but studies spanning several decades have yet to identify unequivocally a brain region required for FAA. Variability of resu...

Food availability is a potent environmental cue that directs circadian locomotor activity in rodents. Daily scheduled restricted feeding (RF), in which the food available time is restricted for several hours each day, elicits anticipatory activity. This food-anticipatory activity (FAA) is controlled by a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) that is distinct from the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), ...

Rats anticipate daily restricted meals with increased approaches to a feeder and an increase in core body temperature. Food anticipatory activity (FAA) is thought to be under the control of a feeding-entrained circadian oscillator. Although numerous forebrain lesions have failed to permanently abolish FAA, the hindbrain has not been investigated. The parabrachial nuclei (PBN) integrate informat...

Davidson, Alec J., Susan L. T. Cappendijk, and Friedrich K. Stephan. Feeding-entrained circadian rhythms are attenuated by lesions of the parabrachial region in rats. Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 278: R1296– R1304, 2000.—Rats anticipate daily restricted meals with increased approaches to a feeder and an increase in core body temperature. Food anticipatory activity (FAA) is t...

Animals fed daily at the same time exhibit circadian food-anticipatory activity (FAA), which has been suggested to be driven by one or several food-entrainable oscillators (FEOs). FAA is altered in mice lacking some circadian genes essential for timekeeping in the main suprachiasmatic clock (SCN). Here, we confirmed that single mutations of clock genes Per1(-/-) and Per2(Brdm1) alter FAA expres...