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Extraocular photoreceptors and oscillators can control the circadian rhythm of behavioral activity inAplysia

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Summary

The daily rhythm of behavioral activity inAplysia does not require the eyes as essential photoreceptors or essential driving oscillators; activity can be diurnal in lightcycles (Figs. 1, 2) and can freerun in constant darkness (Fig. 2) after the eyes have been surgically removed. The eyes, however, do play a role in modulating the activity rhythm; eye removal may change the temporal distribution of diurnal activity; reduce the punctuality of activity onsets, increase the amount of nocturnal activity, and decrease the total amount of activity (Fig. 1). These results, together with previously published ones, make it unlikely that a circadian oscillator known to reside in the eye and another one located in the abdominal ganglion are the sole sources of behavioral rhythmicity inAplysia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, 97403, Eugene, Oregon

    Gene D. Block & Marvin E. Lickey

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  1. Gene D. Block
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  2. Marvin E. Lickey
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Financial support by USPHS NIH. We thank Monique Prevost for typing the manuscript and Joan Wozniak for technical assistance.

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Block, G.D., Lickey, M.E. Extraocular photoreceptors and oscillators can control the circadian rhythm of behavioral activity inAplysia . J. Comp. Physiol. 84, 367–374 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696349

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696349

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