Em. Mintz et He. Albers, MICROINJECTION OF NMDA INTO THE SCN REGION MIMICS THE PHASE-SHIFTING EFFECT OF LIGHT IN HAMSTERS, Brain research, 758(1-2), 1997, pp. 245-249
Although there is considerable data that glutamate is the primary tran
sducer of photic information to the circadian clock in the suprachiasm
atic nucleus (SCN), the ability of glutamate to mimic the phase-shifti
ng effects of light has yet to be demonstrated in vivo. In the present
study, microinjections of the glutamate agonist NMDA directly into th
e SCN of Syrian hamsters induced significant phase delays at circadian
time (CT) 13.5 and phase advances at CT 19. These results support the
hypothesis that glutamate is the primary neurotransmitter responsible
for the transduction of photic information to the SCN.