Prior light alters the circadian clock in the chick pineal gland.

N-Acetyltransferase activity (NAT) exhibits a circadian rhythm in the pineal gland and retinas of chickens and is responsible for melatonin circadian rhythms. Chick pineal gland NAT was measured in vivo and/or in vitro after light-dark cycles and after pretreatments with short photoperiod, long photoperiod, and constant light. Prior lighting changed the shape (phase, amplitude, and duration) of the rhythm in vivo. Some of the alterations are "programmed" into the pineal gland because they were observed in vitro in pineal glands from chicks similarly exposed to lighting pretreatments.