The human circadian clock and aging

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus is implicated in the timing of a wide variety of circadian processes. Since the environmental light-dark cycle is the main zeitgeber for many of the rhythms, photic information may have a synchronizing effect on the endogenous clock of the SCN by inducing periodic changes in the biological activity of certain groups of neurons. By studying the brains obtained at autopsy of human subjects, marked diurnal oscillations were observed in the neuropeptide content of the SCN. Vasopressin, for example, one of the most abundant peptides in the human SCN, exhibited a diurnal rhythm, with low values at night and peak values during the early morning. However, with advancing age, these diurnal fluctuations deteriorated, leading to a disrupted cycle with a reduced amplitude in elderly people. These findings suggest that the synthesis of some peptides in the human SCN exhibits an endogenous circadian rhythmicity, and that the temporal organization of these rhythms becomes progressively disturbed in senescence.