An improved technique for visually controlled pinealectomy in the rat.

An improved method for pinealectomizing rats and other small laboratory rodents is described which avoids bleeding and allows excision of the organ under exact visual control. After removing a small piece of the skull dorsal to the confluence of the transverse and dorsal sagittal sinuses, the latter is ligated and cut. The underlying pineal gland is then exposed and may be excised reliably without damage to the gland tissue or to adjacent brain structures. Intra- and post-operative complications are extremely rare.