The Circadian Clock

Abstract

That we wake, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sleep on a regular schedule are clues to the existence of an underlying network of biological oscillators. We anticipate important daily events with changes in neural activity, metabolism and blood flow under the command of a circadian timing system. The circadian timing system drives daily rhythms in physiology and behavior. This chapter focuses on the elements in the nervous system which generate and coordinate these circadian rhythms.