Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 13 January 1967:
Vol. 155. no. 3759, pp. 220 - 223
DOI: 10.1126/science.155.3759.220
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Visual Pathway Mediating Pineal Response to Environmental Light

Robert Y. Moore 1, Alfred Heller 2, Richard J. Wurtman 3, and Julius Axelrod 3

1 Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
2 Department of Pharmacology, University of Chicago
3 National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014

Activity of the melatoninforming enzyme, hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase, in rat pineal is increased when the animal is exposed to continuous darkness, and it is decreased by exposure to continuous light. Response to environmental light is initiated in the retina and transmitted to the pineal by way of the central nervous system and the cervical sympathetics. The central visual pathway essential for mediation of this response is the inferior accessory optic tract. Visual pathways to thalamus and tectum do not participate in this response.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mammalian Photoperiodic System: Formal Properties and Neuroendocrine Mechanisms of Photoperiodic Time Measurement.
B. D. Goldman (2001)
J Biol Rhythms 16, 283-301
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus: A 25-Year Retrospective.
D. R. Weaver (1998)
J Biol Rhythms 13, 100-112
   Abstract »    PDF »
Adenosine 3',5'-Monophosphate in Rat Pineal Gland: Increase Induced by Light.
M. S. Ebadi, B. Weiss, and E. Costa (1970)
Science 170, 188-190
   Abstract »    PDF »
Extraoptic Celestial Orientation in the Southern Cricket Frog Acris gryllus.
D. H. Taylor and D. E. Ferguson (1970)
Science 168, 390-392
   Abstract »    PDF »
Extraoptic Phase Shifting of Circadian Locomotor Rhythm in Salamanders.
K. Adler (1969)
Science 164, 1290-1292
   Abstract »    PDF »
Hydroxyindole-O-Methyl-Transferase Activity: Effect of Sympathetic Nerve Stimulation.
M. J. Brownstein and A. Heller (1968)
Science 162, 367-368
   Abstract »    PDF »
Central Control of the Pineal Gland: Visual Pathways.
R. Y. Moore, A. Heller, R. K. Bhatnager, R. J. Wurtman, and J. Axelrod (1968)
Arch Neurol 18, 208-218
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)