Circadian Networks

The natural world is dynamic but organisms seek homeostasis. Daily variations in light, temperature, food availability, social interactions and more impose rhythmic demands on physiology. An overarching strategy to solve such a contradiction is aligning to the current moment and anticipating the qualities of the next as to minimize the cost of resetting. In other words, to adapt to daily environmental changes one solution that has repeatedly emerged through evolution is the emergence of endogenous clocks.

We are interested in understanding the architecture and the functioning of animal clocks. Chronobiology is a relatively young but fast evolving field. Progressively, the focus has shifted from dissecting rhythmic gene expression and identifying dynamic protein-protein interactions to probing connectivity and interdependence among clock neurons. The very definition of a clock is also widening. The classic definition of a central clock was the group of neurons that autonomously generate rhythms and govern rhythmic behavior and physiology, whereas the picture that is emerging is that of a plastic, multi-component oscillator able to adopt different functional conformations depending on environmental variables. Here we explore 'connectivity' as a fundamental 'ingredient' for the realization of circadian rhythmicity.  

We invite the submission of original research articles and reviews that examine the role of cell-cell interactions as a fundamental aspect of rhythmic behavior. 

We are interested in Topics such as:

• Neuroanatomical substrates
• Neurons and glia 
• Neurotransmitters and modulators
• Synapses and connectivity
• Structural plasticity
• Network synchronization, resetting and reconfiguration
• Emerging properties 

The Topic Editors would like to thank Gregory Loichot, web designer at the University of Geneva, who designed the Research Topic image.