Changes in the electrical activity of the rat pineal gland following stimulation of the cervical sympathetic ganglia.
In order to elucidate the role of sympathetic innervation for pineal function, the influence of both unilateral and bilateral electrical stimulation of the superior cervical ganglia on the electrical activity of single cells in the rat pineal gland was investigated. These experiments revealed a clear influence on spontaneous electrical activity of single pinealocytes. About half of the units tested by unilateral stimulation exhibited either a graded continuous augmentation or inhibitions of different magnitude. In addition, 'silent' cells without spontaneous activity could be activated by sympathetic stimulation. Sequential and simultaneous bilateral stimulations showed that only a few cells could be influenced by both ganglia and in these cases the influence seemed to be additive. Some pineal cells do not appear to be under the control of the sympathetic nervous system.
D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009433:Neural Inhibition; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains