Phase-resetting action of light on the circadian activity rhythm of Rattus exulans

The phase resetting action of light on the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity has been examined in wild-caught Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans). Phase-response curves to 4-, 8-, and 16-h light pulses have been derived. All three curves conform to the generalization that pulses occurring during late subjective day and early subjective night produce delays, whereas advances occur in response to pulses coinciding with the late subjective night and early subjective day. Weak (type 1) phase resetting is observed in response to 4-h pulses and perhaps 8-h pulses, whereas strong (type 0) resetting apparently occurs in response to 16-h pulses. These data evidently constitute the first report of strong phase resetting in mammalian circadian rhythms. The phase relationship between an entrained activity rhythm and the light-dark cycle is dependent on the photoperiod and, in 24-h cycles, on the period difference between the rhythm and the zeitgeber. In longer zeitgeber cycles, activity onset is delayed by a direct masking effect of light. A primarily nonparametric action of light in natural entrainment is consistent with these data and with field observations.