Hierarchy or Heterarchy of Mammalian Circadian Timekeepers?

Abstract

Mammalian circadian biologists commonly characterize the relation between circadian clocks as hierarchical, with the clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus at the top of the hierarchy. The lineage of research since the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) was first identified as the clock in mammals has challenged this perspective, revealing clocks in peripheral tissues, showing that they respond to their own zeitgebers, coordinate oscillations among themselves, and in some cases modify the behavior of the SCN. Increasingly circadian timekeepers appear to constitute a heterarchical network, with control distributed and operating along multiple pathways. One reason for the continued invocation of hierarchy in mammalian circadian biology is that it is difficult to understand how a heterarchical system could operate effectively so as to maintain the organism. Evolved mechanisms, however, need not respect hierarchy and those that have survived have demonstrated the ability of heterarchical organizaton to maintain organisms.