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Seasonal And Sex Differences In The Effects Of Melatonin On Brain Arginine Vasotocin In Green Treefrogs (Hyla Cinerea): Relationship To Melatonin Receptor 1a, Christina Marie Howard

Dissertations and Theses

Critical life history events such as breeding, migration and hibernation must take place in the correct environmental context to minimize deleterious consequences on survival and reproductive fitness. Neuroendocrine mechanisms synchronizing internal physiological states with extrinsic environmental cues are vital to timing life history events appropriately. Secretion of the pineal hormone melatonin is sensitive to light and temperature cues, which provides a physiological indicator of time of day and time of year for organisms. Melatonin influences seasonal reproduction in a variety of vertebrates, likely by altering the synthesis and/or release of reproductive neuropeptides in the brain. The neuropeptides arginine vasotocin and …