{"title":"Entrainment of Syrian hamsters to short photoperiod T-cycles does not reverse the inhibitory nature of feedback lighting on the photoperiodic response.","authors":"J. S. Ferraro, A. Bartke, R. Steger","doi":"10.1080/09291019109360096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09291019109360096","url":null,"abstract":"Experiments examining the photoperiodic effects of various light-dark cycles unexpectedly demonstrated that light during the subjective night is not necessarily photoinductive to the reproductive system of long day breeders. Feedback lighting (illumination in response to locomotor activity) and a high-frequency light-dark cycle with 1 minute (m) of light followed with 1 minute of dark (LD1m:1m) failed to maintain reproductive function in Syrian hamsters despite exposing the animal to 5-6 hours of light per cycle during the subjective night. In an effort to determine why feedback lighting and LD1m:1m do not maintain reproductive function, male Syrian hamsters were exposed to one of the following lighting conditions for ten weeks: a light-dark cycle with 14 hours of light followed by a 10 hour light-dark cycle of 1 minute of light followed by 1 minute of dark ¿LD14:10(1m:1m)¿; a cycle of a 14 hour light-dark cycle of 1 minute of light followed by 1 minute of dark, followed by 10 hours of dark ¿LD14(1m:1m):10)¿; a light-dark cycle of 2 hours of light and 21 hours of dark (LD2:21); a light-dark cycle of 2 hours of light and 22 hours of dark (LD2:22); LD2:21 in conjunction with feedback lighting (LD2:21/FB); LD2:22 in conjunction with feedback lighting (LD2:22/FB); constant dark (DD) or constant light (LL). All hamsters exposed to LD14(1m:1m):10 entrained. Only 7 of 12 hamsters exposed to LD14:10(1m:1m) entrained. This supports previous findings, which suggest that the circadian system has difficulty differentiating between LD1m:1m and LL. Exposure to LD2:22 and DD induced testicular regression, while LL, LD2:21 and LD14(1m:1m):10 maintained reproductive function, as expected. The addition of approximately 5 hours of nocturnal illumination by feedback lighting, however, not only failed to prevent reproductive regression in LD2:22, but attenuated the stimulatory nature of LD2:21. This suggests that feedback lighting is not only not stimulatory, but may be actively inhibitory. Perhaps this is due to a photoinhibitory effect of multitransitional nocturnal illumination. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that LD14:10(1m:1m) allows regression, while LD14(1m:1m):10 is stimulatory. These findings also imply that the state of the circadian system is instrumental in the reproductive system's interpretation of a light signal.","PeriodicalId":81667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of interdisciplinary cycle research","volume":"46 1","pages":"21-30"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1991-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77075105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Nocturnal illumination maintains reproductive function and simulates the period-lengthening effect of constant light in the mature male Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus).","authors":"J. S. Ferraro","doi":"10.1080/09291019009360021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09291019009360021","url":null,"abstract":"Mature male Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) were placed in individual light-tight, sound attenuated chambers and exposed to one of four lighting conditions for a duration of approximately seven weeks. The four lighting conditions were: constant light (LL); constant dark (DD); feedback lighting (LDFB; a condition that illuminates the cage in response to locomotor activity); or a feedback lighting neighbor control (LDFB NC; the animal receives the same light pattern as a paired animal in feedback lighting, but has no control over it). Exposure of hamsters to LL or LDFB produced significantly and similarly longer free-running periods of the locomotor activity rhythm than exposure of animals to DD. Hamsters exposed to LDFB NC did not free-run or entrain, but rather displayed \"relative coordination\". The paired testes and sex accessory glands weights suggest that in the Djungarian hamster, LL and LDFB exposed animals maintained reproductive function, whereas DD exposed animals did not. Animals exposed to LDFB NC had intermediate paired testes weights. Since several previous studies have demonstrated that short pulses of light, which are coincident with the subjective night, are photostimulatory, it is not surprising that LDFB maintained reproductive function in the mature Djungarian hamster. Feedback lighting, however, has been shown to be an insufficient stimulus to maintain reproductive function of mature male and female Syrian hamsters, and to the reproductive maturation of immature Djungarian hamsters. The results suggest that there may be slight, but significant differences in the way these two species interpret photoperiod, as well as a developmental change in the photoperiodic response of Djungarian hamsters.","PeriodicalId":81667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of interdisciplinary cycle research","volume":"39 1","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86199663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The effects of feedback lighting on the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity and the reproductive maturation of the male Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus).","authors":"J. S. Ferraro","doi":"10.1080/09291018809359963","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09291018809359963","url":null,"abstract":"The non-parametric model of entrainment suggests that brief pulses of light, delivered between dusk and dawn can simulate the phasing effects of full photoperiods or even constant light (LL). Feedback lighting (LDFB) is a lighting condition where individual animals, otherwise in constant darkness (DD), are exposed to light in response to a monitored behavior. The specific purpose of this type of illumination is to expose the circadian cycle to light only during the subjective night. LDFB has been used to support this hypothesis in several species of nocturnal rodents and one species of diurnal primate by producing similar free-running periods in LDFB as in LL. This lighting condition has also been used to test the hypothesis that exposing the subjective night to even short duration light pulses will maintain reproductive function in long day breeders. In the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus), however, LDFB is not as photostimulatory as LL despite extensive light exposure during the subjective night. In the experiments presented here, a group of immature male Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) were placed in individual light-tight sound attenuated chambers where they had free access to food, water and an activity wheel. The animals were exposed to one of four lighting conditions [DD, LL, LDFB or a neighbor control of feedback lighting (LDFB NC)] for approximately 30 days shortly after weaning. LDFB NC is a lighting condition where a neighbor control hamster receives the identical lighting regime as a paired animal exposing itself to LDFB, yet the neighbor has no control over it. A fifth group was exposed to a light-dark cycle of 16 hours of light and 8 hours of dark (LD16:8). This group was housed in cages in a colony room and did not have access to a running wheel. The free-running periods of the locomotor activity rhythms for hamsters exposed to LDFB and LL were not similar, unlike the results for rats, Syrian hamsters, mice, monkeys and even mature Djungarian hamsters. Immature hamsters exposed to DD and LDFB NC developed more slowly than animals exposed to LL or LD16:8, while hamsters in LDFB developed at an intermediate rate. Thus, it appears that LDFB, although capable of inducing reproductive function in immature Djungarian hamsters, is not as photostimulatory as may have been expected from current photoperiodic models, despite substantial light exposure during the subjective night. Furthermore, this data may suggest that the circadian system of 18-48 day old Djungarian hamsters are still undergoing organizational maturation.","PeriodicalId":81667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of interdisciplinary cycle research","volume":"1 1","pages":"29-47"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1988-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83033699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}