Enhanced circadian photoresponsiveness after prolonged dark adaptation in seven species of diurnal and nocturnal rodents.

Previous studies in mice and Syrian hamsters have described an enhancement of circadian photoresponsiveness after exposure to darkness for several weeks. The present study investigated the generality of the phenomenon in 3 diurnal and 4 nocturnal rodent species. In four of the species tested, phase delays of the running-wheel activity rhythm evoked by 1-h light pulses were several-fold larger after 3 to 4 weeks of exposure to darkness than after a single day. This drastic change in photoresponsiveness has important implications for the understanding of the process of photic entrainment. Differences between species that showed a significant effect of dark adaptation and species that showed no effect were not accounted for by temporal niche (diurnal versus nocturnal) or photic sensitivity (albino versus pigmented). Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for inter-species differences in the occurrence of enhanced photoresponsiveness after dark adaptation and to identify the neural substrates of this phenomenon in species that exhibit it.