Animal Physiology

Course for master study programme 
Course description	
Course ID: PriF.KŽFE-mBFE-130/15	Course title: Chronobiology	
Study program: Animal Physiology
Educational level: II	
Garant: Prof. RNDr. Michal Zeman, DrSc.		
Educational activities:
Type of activities: lecture and seminar
Number of hours:
per week: 3 per weak/semester: 36
	Number of credits: 4
 	
Recommended semester: 1	
Learning outcomes: 
The aim of the course is to understand the internal time structure of animals and how it modulates physiological and behavioral processes in animals. 
Students will get familiar with definition of circadian oscillator, its formal properties in cells and tissues. Concept of entrainment, phase shifts, phase-response curve. Molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythm generation; The circadian systems. Structure and function. Differences between mammals and lower vertebrates. Control of rhythmic melatonin production. Seasonal rhythms and photoperiodism. Importance of biological rhythms for control of physiological function at different levels of organism. Shifts in time, consequences on performance (jet lag, shift work). Biological rhythms as a principal factor in adaptation of organisms to environment, ontogeny of rhythms and aging, rhythmic disturbances in cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems.