Publications

Highlights

Optogenetics, photoperiodic light, and the SCN

Optogenetic stimulation of VIPergic SCN neurons induces photoperiodic‐like changes in the mammalian circadian clock

Tackenberg MC, Hughey JJ, McMahon DG

European Journal of Neuroscience (2021)

Mice on a short photoperiod can be induced to have long-day like after-effects in behavior and SCN properties when VIPergic neurons are stimulated during the first half of the night.

Distinct components of photoperiodic light are differentially encoded by the mammalian circadian clock

Tackenberg MC, Hughey JJ, McMahon DG

Journal of Biological Rhythms (2020)

The ratio of light to dark each day (photoperiod length) and the length of the day (T-cycle length) each have impacts on mammalian behavior and SCN properties that can be traced back to the specific components of the light signal itself.

Optogenetic methods for the study of circadian rhythms

Jones JR*, Tackenberg MC*, McMahon DG
*equal contributions

Circadian clocks: Methods and protocols (2021)

The midline positioning and triangular shape of the SCN make it an ideal target for single-fiber optogenetic stimulation.

Honey bees

Neonicotinoids disrupt circadian rhythms and sleep in honey bees

Tackenberg MC, Giannoni-Guzmán MA, Sanchez-Perez E, Doll CA, Agosto-Rivera JL, Broadie K, Moore D, McMahon DG

Scientific Reports (2020)

Honey bees exposed to sub-lethal levels of popular pesticides have disrupted circadian properties that may help to explain forager losses in Colony Collapse Disorder.

Methods & techniques

Tau-independent Phase Analysis: A Novel Method for Accurately Determining Phase Shifts

Tackenberg MC*, Jones JR, Page TL, Hughey JJ
*Corresponding author

Journal of Biological Rhythms (2018)

Measuring phase shifts in actograms can be influenced by period changes, but those influences can be successfully counteracted.

The risks of using the chi-square periodogram to estimate the period of biological rhythms

Tackenberg MC, Hughey JJ

PLOS Computational Biology (2021)

One of the most popular methods for measuring period length in circadian data, the chi-square periodogram, has an accuracy-limiting vulnerability that, even when fixed, generally underperforms the Lomb-Scargle periodogram.

Chronohistory & circadian theory

Revealing Oft-cited but Unpublished Papers of Colin Pittendrigh and Coworkers

Tackenberg MC, Johnson CH, Page TL, Daan S

Journal of Biological Rhythms (2017)

In the mid 1960s, Colin Pittendrigh, Serge Daan, and Eric Ottesen drafted a pair of manuscripts on the mechanisms of circadian entrainment that were continually updated through at least 1978, but never published.