Definition
The pineal gland of birds is capable of photoreception and, therefore, light can directly regulate melatonin synthesis and release. The light perceived by the pineal gland can be used by the birds to entrain the entire circadian system. At least two functional photopigments.
Pinopsin and Melanopsin, are present in the pineal gland. One of these photopigments may mediate the acute suppression of melatonin synthesis while the other may mediate the entrainment of the circadian pacemaker that drives melatonin synthesis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
(2008). Avian Pineal Gland as “Third Eye”. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_504
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_504
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-23735-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29678-2
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences