Timing Matters: Circadian Alignment of Caloric Restriction Promotes Longevity

The Center for BrainHealth invites scientists to share their scientific study with students and other researchers at the BrainHealth Frontiers Lunch Lectures. The lectures are heavily science focused and are not intended for a lay audience.

Caloric restriction (CR) prolongs life span, yet the mechanisms by which it does so remain poorly understood. Under CR, mice self-impose chronic cycles of 2-hour feeding and 22-hour fasting, raising the question of if it is calories, fasting, or time of day that is the cause of this increased life span. We show here that 30% CR was sufficient to extend the life span by 10%; however, a daily fasting interval and circadian alignment of feeding acted together to extend life span by 35% in male C57BL/6J mice. These effects were independent of body weight. Aging induced widespread increases in gene expression associated with inflammation and decreases in the expression of genes encoding components of metabolic pathways in liver from ad libitum-fed mice. CR at night ameliorated these aging-related changes. Our results show that circadian interventions promote longevity and provide a perspective to further explore mechanisms of aging.

Friday, 9/9/2022 at noon

Registration is free. Please Register to attend this in-person and virtual event. 

Carla Green, PhD
UT Southwestern