Nonphotic entrainment of the human circadian pacemaker

EB Klerman, DW Rimmer, DJ Dijk… - American Journal …, 1998 - journals.physiology.org
EB Klerman, DW Rimmer, DJ Dijk, RE Kronauer, JF Rizzo III, CA Czeisler
American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and …, 1998journals.physiology.org
In organisms as diverse as single-celled algae and humans, light is the primary stimulus
mediating entrainment of the circadian biological clock. Reports that some totally blind
individuals appear entrained to the 24-h day have suggested that nonphotic stimuli may also
be effective circadian synchronizers in humans, although the nonphotic stimuli are probably
comparatively weak synchronizers, because the circadian rhythms of many totally blind
individuals “free run” even when they maintain a 24-h activity-rest schedule. To investigate …
In organisms as diverse as single-celled algae and humans, light is the primary stimulus mediating entrainment of the circadian biological clock. Reports that some totally blind individuals appear entrained to the 24-h day have suggested that nonphotic stimuli may also be effective circadian synchronizers in humans, although the nonphotic stimuli are probably comparatively weak synchronizers, because the circadian rhythms of many totally blind individuals “free run” even when they maintain a 24-h activity-rest schedule. To investigate entrainment by nonphotic synchronizers, we studied the endogenous circadian melatonin and core body temperature rhythms of 15 totally blind subjects who lacked conscious light perception and exhibited no suppression of plasma melatonin in response to ocular bright-light exposure. Nine of these fifteen blind individuals were able to maintain synchronization to the 24-h day, albeit often at an atypical phase angle of entrainment. Nonphotic stimuli also synchronized the endogenous circadian rhythms of a totally blind individual to a non-24-h schedule while living in constant near darkness. We conclude that nonphotic stimuli can entrain the human circadian pacemaker in some individuals lacking ocular circadian photoreception.
American Physiological Society