Sleep is critical for diverse aspects of brain function in animals ranging from invertebrates to
humans. Powerful genetic tools in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster have identified—at …

Many physiological processes in organisms from bacteria to man are rhythmic, and some of
these are controlled by self-sustained oscillators that persist in the absence of external time …

Although many animals use the Earth's magnetic field for orientation and navigation,, the
precise biophysical mechanisms underlying magnetic sensing have been elusive. One …

Most of us sleep 7–8 h per night, and if we are deprived of sleep our performance suffers
greatly; however, a few do well with just 3–4 h of sleep—a trait that seems to run in families …

Cryptochrome (CRY) proteins are components of the central circadian clockwork of
metazoans. Phylogenetic analyses show at least 2 rounds of gene duplication at the base of …

PERIOD (PER) proteins are central components within the mammalian circadian oscillator,
and are believed to form a negative feedback complex that inhibits their own transcription at …

Understanding the biophysical basis of animal magnetoreception has been one of the
greatest challenges in sensory biology. Recently it was discovered that the light-dependent …

The circadian clock of the honey bee is implicated in ecologically relevant complex
behaviors. These include time sensing, time-compensated sun-compass navigation, and …

The circadian clock plays a vital role in monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) migration by
providing the timing component of time-compensated sun compass orientation, a process …

Circadian clocks are ubiquitous and are found in organisms ranging from bacteria to
mammals. This ubiquity of occurrence implies adaptive significance, but to date there has …