Effects of restricted daily feeding on freerunning circadian rhythms in rats

Male rats were kept in conditions of constant dim illumination and alternately fed ad lib or for 2 or 4 hr per day only. Locomotor activity was recorded as wheel running and as activity in the cage by a microphone system. At selected days before, during and after restricted feeding (RF) blood samples were taken from the tail in 4-hr intervals for the determination of plasma corticosterone. Under both schedules of RF, the circadian rhythms of activity and of plasma corticosterone continued to freerun without significant changes in period or phase while the feeding times were anticipated by increases in activity and in plasma corticosterone. After the termination of RF, the anticipatory components persisted for several days and merged into the freerunning rhythms through transients. The results support the concept of two systems with oscillatory capacities: the freerunning system which is driven by a pacemaker and not affected by RF, and the anticipatory system which can be uncoupled from the freerunning system by an entraining feeding cycle.