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Phase Responses and Characteristics of Free-Running Activity Rhythms in the Golden Hamster: Independence of the Pineal Gland

  • Conference paper
Vertebrate Circadian Systems

Part of the book series: Proceedings in Life Sciences ((LIFE SCIENCES))

Abstract

The pineal organ is of major importance for the circadian organization of fishes, amphibians, reptiles (Underwood 1982), and birds (Takahashi and Menaker 1979), yet there is little evidence for a similar role in mammals. As was first shown by Richter (1967), pinealectomy has no effect on the free-running activity rhythm of blinded rats. Other studies have also failed to find any difference between pinealectomized (sighted) rats and intact controls with regard to the circadian period in constant conditions and its dependence on intensity of illumination (Quay 1968), the phase-angle difference to an entraining light-dark cycle (LD) (Quay 1970a), or the pattern of activity in either natural or artificial LD (Karppanen et al. 1973). Furthermore, the periods of free-running activity rhythms were similar in intact and pinealectomized golden hamsters after 9 weeks of exposure to continuous darkness (DD) as well as immediately after the transfer from LD to DD (Morin and Cummings 1981). Circadian rhythms in several functions other than locomotor activity have also been shown to be not affected, or only marginally altered, by pinealectomy: e.g., the rhythms of food intake (Baum 1970, Morimoto and Yamamura 1979, Lynch and Wurtman 1979) and of water intake (Stephan and Zucker 1972), of plasma levels in corticosterone (Takahashi et al. 1976, Morimoto and Yamamura 1979), testosterone (Kinson and Liu 1973), and prolactin (Niles et al. 1977a), of the melanocyte stimulating hormone content of the pituitary (Tilders and Smelk 1975), of visual evoked potentials in the rabbit (cf. Chap. 2.4), and of agonistic behavior in mice (Cavalieri et al. 1980) as well as body temperature in the rat (Spencer et al. 1976).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensphysiologie, D-8138, Andechs, Germany

    J. Aschoff, U. Gerecke & Chr. von Goetz

  2. National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20205, USA

    G. A. Groos

  3. Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 60201, USA

    F. W. Turek

Authors
  1. J. Aschoff
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  2. U. Gerecke
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  3. Chr. von Goetz
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  4. G. A. Groos
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  5. F. W. Turek
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensphysiologie, D-8138, Andechs, Germany

    Jürgen Aschoff

  2. Zoologisch Laboratorium, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Kerklaan 30, NL-Haren, The Netherlands

    Serge Daan

  3. National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20205, USA

    Gerard A. Groos

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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Aschoff, J., Gerecke, U., von Goetz, C., Groos, G.A., Turek, F.W. (1982). Phase Responses and Characteristics of Free-Running Activity Rhythms in the Golden Hamster: Independence of the Pineal Gland. In: Aschoff, J., Daan, S., Groos, G.A. (eds) Vertebrate Circadian Systems. Proceedings in Life Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68651-1_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68651-1_14

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