Background
Research Interest:
I received my Ph. D degree from Madurai Kamaraj University in Madurai, India. I am interested in the neural mechanisms regulating circadian rhythms in mammals. My lab’s main research question is how the circadian system (input-oscillators-output) of diurnal (active during the day) rodents differ from nocturnal (active during the night) rodents. My research primarily focuses on the expression of clock protein rhythms in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and the extra-SCN regions of the brain in the diurnal grass rat Arvicanthis niloticus and comparing how this rhythm is different from nocturnal rodents such as lab rats and mice. Currently I am working on within- species differences in the aforementioned diurnal grass rats. When a running wheel is introduced, some of the individuals voluntarily switch to night active wheel running behavior, and some individuals remain day active wheel runners. I am comparing clock protein rhythm in the SCN, the extra-SCN regions of the brain and peripheral tissues of day and night active grass rats. This behavioral activity pattern provides an excellent model to study shift work, because humans are basically active during the day but shift worker are active during night.
Selected Publications
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Chidambaram
Ramanathan 