Food availability and daily biological rhythms.

Restricted daily feeding schedules result in the partial or complete synchronization of a wide range of rhythmic biological functions in rodents. In some cases, exemplified by drinking behavior and liver tyrosine transaminase activity, this represents primarily a direct, exogenous influence of food intake. In others, synchronization is achieved by entrainment of a circadian time-keeping mechanism distinct from that which underlies free-running rhythms in these functions. This food-entrained mechanism is responsible for the timing of anticipatory increases in locomotor and lever-pressing activity immediatley prior to food delivery, and may also underlie similar anticipatory increases in body temperature, corticosterone secretion, and in the activities of some intestinal enzymes. It is suggested that such a mechanism may enable an animal to recognize and take advantage of the periodic recurrence of significant events in its biotic environment.