著者

井深 信男

出版者

The Japanese Psychological Association

雑誌

心理学研究 (ISSN:00215236)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.56, no.5, pp.300-315, 1985

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Recent advances on the study of circadian rhythm are reviewed and discussed on the following topics: (1) its phylogeny (the existence of extraretinal photoreceptors, photoreceptors for entrainment, the location of circadian oscillators), (2) its ontogeny and aging, (3) its central neural mechanism (the ablation study of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the electrophysiological study of the SCN in multiple unit activity and single neuron activity in rat hypothalamic slice preparation, the use of 2-DG as a functional marker, the transplantation of the SCN, the afferents and efferents of SCN and its peptides), (4) multiple oscillators theory (the anticipatory activities in rats with SCN lesions in response to the restricted feeding schedule, internal desynchronization, splitting), and (5) its psychological significance. Many lines of evidence have shown that the SCN is a putative circadian pacemaker in mammals. On the other hand, other lines of evidence suggest that there are other oscillators outside the SCN. Finally it is emphasized that the chronobiological viewpoint is necessary for the development of psychology.