Light affects mood and learning through distinct retina-brain pathways

• Diego Carlos Fernandez ^[1] ; P. Michelle Fogerson ^[2] ; Lorenzo Lazzerini Ospri ^[3]
  1. [1] National Institute of Mental Health

     National Institute of Mental Health

     Japón

     
  2. [2] Brown University

     Brown University

     City of Providence, Estados Unidos

     
  3. [3] Johns Hopkins University

     Johns Hopkins University

     Estados Unidos

     

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• Localización: Cell, ISSN 0092-8674, Vol. 175, Nº. 1, 2018, págs. 71-84
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • 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.