Bilateral electrolytic lesions were placed in the corticomedial portion of the amygdala in 23-day-old female rats of the Sprague-Dawley strain. The animals were given a subcutaneous injection of 5 I.U. PMS at 26 days of age, and endometrial trauma at 32 days. At sacrifice performed 4 days later, the ovaries of 12 rats bearing amygdaloid lesions contained a greater number of corpora lutea as compared with the 7 control rats given no brain lesions. The ovaries of 4 of the 12 lesioned rats were heavily luteinized. In the 4 animals, the vaginal epithelium was strongly mucified, although deciduomata were never formed in response to uterine trauma. These findings suggest that the amygdala, or the corticomedial portion of the amygdala, is involved in the regulation of the secretion of gonadotropins and prolactin in immature female rats.
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