Altered light-dark phase-dependent behavioral responses and suprachiasmatic nucleus pathology in an α-synuclein rat model of Parkinson's disease

Description This dataset accompanies the study investigating circadian rhythm dysfunction and suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) pathology in α-synuclein-overexpressing transgenic rats as a preclinical model of Parkinson’s disease (DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7816986/v1). The dataset contains behavioral, histological, and quantitative analysis data obtained from three-month-old α-synuclein transgenic rats and wild-type littermate controls. Experiments were designed to assess light-dark phase-dependent modulation of motor and non-motor behaviors and to evaluate structural and cellular alterations within the SCN. Behavioral assessments include measures of: exploratory activity, locomotor behavior, sucrose preference, and olfaction-guided feeding performance across different light-dark cycle phases. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses include: α-synuclein accumulation, overall SCN cell density, neuronal markers, orexinergic fiber markers, and microglial markers (including Iba1-positive cell quantification). The dataset further includes correlation analyses linking α-synuclein pathology with neuroinflammatory and orexinergic alterations. The data support the conclusion that α-synuclein-overexpressing rats exhibit disrupted phase-dependent behavioral modulation and early SCN pathology prior to pronounced motor impairment, thereby representing a translational model for studying non-motor symptoms and circadian dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. Dataset Contents The repository may include: raw behavioral measurements, processed quantitative data, microscopy-derived quantifications, statistical analysis tables, and supplementary documentation required for data interpretation and reuse. Experimental Model Species: Rat (Rattus norvegicus) Model: α-synuclein-overexpressing transgenic rats (SPRD-Tg(RP11-115D19)2Uhg) Control group: Wild-type littermates Age at analysis: 3 months Additional Information For additional information regarding the dataset, experimental procedures, or data processing, readers may contact the corresponding author at any time.