期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1970
卷号:67
期号:1
页码:320-325
DOI:10.1073/pnas.67.1.320
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Photoperiodic control of testis growth in Passer domesticus (house sparrow) is mediated entirely by extraretinal photoreceptors in the brain. The eyes do not participate in photoperiodically significant photoreception. Removal of the pineal organ does not affect either the response to light or, to a first approximation, the process of recrudescence. The intensity of light reaching the retina and that reaching the extraretinal photoreceptor were varied independently. This technique will make it possible to study brain photoreception in species of birds that will not tolerate blinding. Extreme caution is necessary in the interpretation of brain lesion experiments in which reproductive function is modified, since photoreception by brain receptors of unknown anatomical location affects testicular state.