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The Development of Circadian Rhythms in Human Infants

The Development of Circadian Rhythms in Human Infants

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However the overwhelm<strong>in</strong>g evidence suggests that the master SCN synchronises the<br />

tim<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> peripheral oscillators. <strong>The</strong>se help determ<strong>in</strong>e circadian rhythmicity, the ma<strong>in</strong><br />

research focus <strong>of</strong> this study (Reppert & Weaver, 2002, Pando et al., 2002).<br />

<strong>The</strong> mechanisms <strong>of</strong> both levels <strong>of</strong> the „clock‟ are thought to be similar, so f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs<br />

from peripheral clock work has been extrapolated to attempt to <strong>in</strong>crease the<br />

understand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the central clock (Reppert & Weaver, 2002, Yagita et al., 2001). In<br />

this study although the <strong>in</strong>tention was to study central clock genes, peripheral circadian<br />

gene expression was <strong>in</strong>vestigated as a proxy for central clock gene expression.<br />

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