scotophobin

American  

[skoh-tuh-foh-bin] / ˌskoʊ təˈfoʊ bɪn /

noun

1. a peptide isolated from the brains of rats conditioned to avoid darkness, alleged to induce a dark-avoidance response in untrained rats, mice, and other animals.

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Other Word Forms

• scotophobic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of scotophobin

First recorded in 1965–70; scotophob(ia) ( def. ) + -in ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scotophobin

His name for it: scotophobin, from the Greek words for "darkness" and "fear."

From Time Magazine Archive

To check his conclusion, Ungar asked Wolfgang Parr, a University of Houston chemist, to duplicate scotophobin using only off-the-shelf chemicals.

From Time Magazine Archive