Light Affects Mood and Learning Through Distinct Retina-Brain Pathways

Overview

Journal Cell

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2018 Sep 4

PMID 30173913

Citations 188

Authors

Diego Carlos Fernandez

P Michelle Fogerson

Lorenzo Lazzerini Ospri

Michael B Thomsen

Robert M Layne

Daniel Severin

Jesse Zhan

Joshua H Singer

Alfredo Kirkwood

Haiqing Zhao

David M Berson

Samer Hattar

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Light exerts a range of powerful biological effects beyond image vision, including mood and learning regulation. While the source of photic information affecting mood and cognitive functions is well established, viz. intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), the central mediators are unknown. Here, we reveal that the direct effects of light on learning and mood utilize distinct ipRGC output streams. ipRGCs that project to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) mediate the effects of light on learning, independently of the SCN's pacemaker function. Mood regulation by light, on the other hand, requires an SCN-independent pathway linking ipRGCs to a previously unrecognized thalamic region, termed perihabenular nucleus (PHb). The PHb is integrated in a distinctive circuitry with mood-regulating centers and is both necessary and sufficient for driving the effects of light on affective behavior. Together, these results provide new insights into the neural basis required for light to influence mood and learning.

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