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Friday, July 24, 2009

Chronic Ethanol Intake Alters Circadian Phase Shifting and Free-Running Period in Mice
Journal of Biological Rhythms, Vol. 24, No. 4, 304-312 (2009)

Chronic alcohol intake is associated with widespread disruptions in sleep and circadian rhythms in both human alcoholics and in experimental animals. Recent studies have demonstrated that chronic and acute ethanol treatments alter fundamental properties of the circadian pacemaker—including free-running period and responsiveness to photic and nonphotic phase-shifting stimuli—in rats and hamsters.

In the present work, the authors extend these observations to the C57BL/6J mouse, an inbred strain characterized by very high levels of voluntary ethanol intake and by reliable and stable free-running circadian activity rhythms.

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