OSCR

Clocks slide rather than freeze during torpor in the mouse.

Overview

Authors: Timna Hitrec1,2, Ludovico Taddei1, Lukasz Chrobok1, Megan Elley1, William S.R. Wheatley1, Anthony E. Pickering1, Michael T. Ambler1
ORCID iDs: Timna Hitrec, Lukasz Chrobok, William S.R. Wheatley, Anthony E. Pickering, Michael T. Ambler
  1. School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
  2. Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Institutions: University of Bristol (United Kingdom); University of Bologna (Italy)
Journal: iScience, volume 29, issue 7, article 116402
Dates: received 16 January 2026; accepted 29 May 2026; published online 17 June 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116402 · PMID 42375523 · PMCID PMC13310930 · OpenAlex W7164997882
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: code on request
Categories: mouse (organism), cellular / molecular (subfield)
Methods: Statistics
Keywords: Molecular mechanism of behavior, Behavioral neuroscience, Systems neuroscience
Topic: Circadian rhythm and melatonin (Endocrine and Autonomic Systems, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex
Funding: Wellcome Trust (308526/Z/23/Z); UK Medical Research Council (MR/W029138/1); RCUK | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (BB/W007266/1)
Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 52 references in the paper

Abstract

Torpor is an energy-saving strategy used by animals in response to environmental challenges. Torpor is subject to circadian influence, but the effect of torpor itself on circadian rhythms is poorly understood. We investigated whether torpor alters circadian behavior by assessing locomotor activity after torpor in mice emerging into constant darkness (without Zeitgebers). Torpor was induced by food deprivation or by chemogenetic re-activation of “torpor-active” preoptic area neurons. In both conditions, torpor did not disrupt circadian rhythmicity, although a significant phase advance of ∼40 min was associated with arousal from fasting-induced torpor. Increased wheel-running activity occurred before torpor, likely reflecting food-seeking behavior. After emergence from fasting-induced torpor, locomotor activity decreased, while food/water intake increased to balance any nutritional deficit back to pre-torpor levels. Together, these findings suggest that torpor, and the associated hypothermia, does not disturb circadian function and that torpor (or arousal) acts as a non-photic phase advance stimulus.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper says that its authors' code is available on request: it was not published with the paper, so there is nothing to verify.

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

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Data

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Data and code availability

• Data: data reported in this paper will be shared by the lead contact upon request. • Code: this paper does not report original code. • Additional information: any additional information required to reanalyze the data reported in this paper is available from the lead contact upon request.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 7 authors, 3 keywords, 3 funders, 51 references.

Cite

This paper

Hitrec, T., Taddei, L., Chrobok, L., Elley, M., Wheatley, W. S., Pickering, A. E., & Ambler, M. T. (2026). Clocks slide rather than freeze during torpor in the mouse. iScience, 29(7), 116402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116402

BibTeX

@article{hitrec2026clocks,
author = {Hitrec, Timna and Taddei, Ludovico and Chrobok, Lukasz and Elley, Megan and Wheatley, William S.R. and Pickering, Anthony E. and Ambler, Michael T.},
title = {{Clocks slide rather than freeze during torpor in the mouse}},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
volume = {29},
number = {7},
pages = {116402},
publisher = {Elsevier},
issn = {2589-0042},
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.116402},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116402},
pmid = {42375523},
pmcid = {PMC13310930}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Hitrec, Timna
AU - Taddei, Ludovico
AU - Chrobok, Lukasz
AU - Elley, Megan
AU - Wheatley, William S.R.
AU - Pickering, Anthony E.
AU - Ambler, Michael T.
TI - Clocks slide rather than freeze during torpor in the mouse
T2 - iScience
J2 - iScience
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/17
VL - 29
IS - 7
SP - 116402
SN - 2589-0042
PB - Elsevier
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116402
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116402
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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