The circadian rhythm induced by the heterogeneous network structure of the suprachiasmatic nucleus

Abstract

In mammals, the master clock is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which is composed of about 20 000 nonidentical neuronal oscillators expressing different intrinsic periods. These neurons are coupled through neurotransmitters to form a network consisting of two subgroups, i.e., a ventrolateral (VL) subgroup and a dorsomedial (DM) subgroup. The VL contains about 25% SCN neurons that receive photic input from the retina, and the DM comprises the remaining 75% SCN neurons which are coupled to the VL. The synapses from the VL to the DM are evidently denser than that from the DM to the VL, in which the VL dominates the DM. Therefore, the SCN is a heterogeneous network where the neurons of the VL are linked with a large number of SCN neurons. In the present study, we mimicked the SCN network based on Goodwin model considering four types of networks including an all-to-all network, a Newman-Watts (NW) small world network, an Erdös-Rényi (ER) random network, and a Barabási-Albert (BA) scale free network. We found that the circadian rhythm was induced in the BA, ER, and NW networks, while the circadian rhythm was absent in the all-to-all network with weak cellular coupling, where the amplitude of the circadian rhythm is largest in the BA network which is most heterogeneous in the network structure. Our finding provides an alternative explanation for the induction or enhancement of circadian rhythm by the heterogeneity of the network structure.