Program Clocks in Small Mammals

Abstract

Complex patterns of time, direction, and speed of running by small nocturnal mammals in activity wheels sometimes are duplicated almost exactly from night to night. These activity pattern repetitions disclose: (i) previously unknown capabilities of biological clocks to act as sequence programmers for behavior; (ii) that animals can retain a record of the sequence and timing of their activities covering an entire night; and (iii) that the activities of one night can bias an animal toward similar behavior on subsequent nights.