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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Dec 7.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2012 Nov 28;14(1):69–75. doi: 10.1038/nrn3393

Figure 3. How many clock centers are in the brain?

Figure 3

The central role of the SCN as light-entrainable oscillator is well documented. The light signal, through the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT), exerts critical control over SCN neurons. Accumulating findings indicate the presence of a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO), probably in either the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) or the ventromedial hypothalamus(VMH), as well as a methamphetamine-sensitive oscillator, which could be localized in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The functional relationships and circuitry interplay among these centers remains unexplored.