Summary
In a large number of adult female and male specimens of Rana temporaria, the pars ventralis of the tuber cinereum of the hypothalamus was completely isolated from the brain. The pars ventralis retained its normal connections with the hypophysis. The vascular supply of the whole isolated region was left intact. Two and a half months after operation, in some animals, the interruption of the nervous pathways was still complete. In these animals it could be shown that all or nearly all A. F.-negative nerve fibres of the median eminence are axons of nerve cells localized in the area periventricularis of the pars ventralis tuberis. According to our results in Rana, the same A. F.-negative nerve fibres of the higher vertebrates are probably also axons of homologous nuclei of the tuber cinereum.
In accordance with previous experiments, it could be concluded that the nerve cells of which the A. F.-negative fibres are axons, form an important centre that, via the pars distalis of the hypophysis, is responsible for the seasonal development of the ovaries, eggs and oviducts in the females and for the seasonal development of the thumb pads in the males.
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Dierickx, K. The origin of the aldehyde-fuchsin-negative nerve fibres of the median eminence of the hypophysis: a gonadotropic centre. Z.Zellforsch 66, 504–518 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00368243
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00368243