Neurobiology of Reproduction in the Female Rat

Vaginal Cytology and Ovarian Status.- Strains of Rats.- Interaction of Environmental Lighting, Age, and Genetic Background Influencing the Estrous Cycle.- Spontaneous Persistent Estrus (SPE).- Influence of Seasonal Variation of Daily Illumination.- Persistent Estrus Induced by Continuous Illumination (LLPE).- Steroid Regulation of the Ovarian Cycle.- Restoration and Maintenance of Ovulatory Cycles by Progesterone Treatment of Persistent-Estrous Rats.- Advancement of Ovulation by Progesterone in Normally Cycling Rats.- Corpora Lutea of Cyclic Rats as Possible Sources of Progesterone.- Induction of Ovulation by Estrogen.- Ovulation Advanced by Estrogen in Cyclic Rats.- Strain Differences in the Ovulation Response to Estrogen.- Timing the Preovulatory Surge of Gonadotropin Secretion.- Blockade of Estrogen-Induced Ovulation.- Blockade of Progesterone-Induced Ovulation.- Blockade of Spontaneous Ovulation.- Pharmacologic Intervention Compared with Hypophysectomy During the 'Critical Period'.- Effect of the Lighting Rhythm on the 'Critical Period'.- Circadian Periodicity in Mechanisms Governing the Ovulatory Surge of Gonadotropins.- The Empirical Nature of the 'Critical Period'.- Central Neural Control of Spontaneous Ovulation: The Rat Model.- Electrochemical Stimulation (ECS).- Electrical Stimulation (ELS).- The Septal-Preoptic-Tuberal System (SPTS) and the Ovulatory LH Surge.- Non-Specific Stimulation of the Tuber by Destructive Lesions.- Dose-Response Relationship of Stimulation to LH Release and Ovulation.- Electrical Stimulation of MPOA versus Basal Tuber.- The Comparative Increments of Circulating LH with Increasing Time of Electrical Stimulation of the Medial Preoptic Area or the Arcuate Nucleus-Median Eminence.- Similarity of LH Surges by MPOA Stimulationin Rats Blocked with Various Drugs.- Stimulation of the Preoptic-Tuberal System During Persistent Estrus.- Overview of the Stimulation Studies.- Pseudopregnancy: Controls for Prolactin Secretion.- Removal of the AP from Direct Influence of the Hypothalamus Favors Secretion of Prolactin.- Pseudopregnancy Induced by Damage to the AP, Stalk-Section, or Damage to the Basal Hypothalamus.- Re-transplantation of AP Grafts from Kidney to Brain.- Delayed Pseudopregnancy: An Approach to Mechanisms I Prolactin Control.- Summary.- References.- Acknowledgments.