scholarly journals No evidence for an S cone contribution to the human circadian response to light

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Spitschan ◽  
Rafael Lazar ◽  
Ebru Yetik ◽  
Christian Cajochen

Exposure to even moderately bright, short-wavelength light in the evening can strongly suppress the production of melatonin and can delay our circadian rhythm. These effects are mediated by the retinohypothalamic pathway, connecting a subset of retinal ganglion cells to the circadian pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain. These retinal ganglion cells directly express the photosensitive protein melanopsin, rendering them intrinsically photosensitive (ipRGCs). But ipRGCs also receive input from the classical photoreceptors — the cones and rods. Here, we examined whether the short-wavelength-sensitive (S) cones contribute to circadian photoreception by using lights which differed exclusively in the amount of S cone excitation by almost two orders of magnitude (ratio 1:83), but not in the excitation of long-wavelength-sensitive (L) and medium-wavelength-sensitive (M) cones, rods, and melanopsin. We find no evidence for a role of S cones in the acute alerting and melatonin supressing response to evening light exposure, pointing to an exclusive role of melanopsin in driving circadian responses.

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 377-393
Author(s):  
RG Foster

Light at dawn and dusk is the key signal for the entrainment of the circadian clock. Light at dusk delays the clock. Light at dawn advances the clock. The threshold for human entrainment requires relatively bright light for a long duration, but the precise irradiance/duration relationships for photoentrainment have yet to be fully defined. Photoentrainment is achieved by a network of photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (pRGCs) which utilise the short-wavelength light-sensitive photopigment, melanopsin. Although rods and cones are not required, they do play a role in photoentrainment, by projecting to and modulating the endogenous photosensitivity of the pRGCs, but in a manner that remains poorly understood. It is also important to emphasise that the age and prior light exposure of an individual will modify the efficacy of entrainment stimuli. Because of the complexity of photoreceptor interactions, attempts to develop evidence-based human centric lighting are not straightforward. We need to study how humans respond to dynamic light exposure in the ‘real world’ where light intensity, duration, spectral quality and the time of exposure vary greatly. Defining these parameters will allow the development of electric lighting systems that will enhance human circadian entrainment.


2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. ARRESE ◽  
J. RODGER ◽  
L.D. BEAZLEY ◽  
J. SHAND

Microspectrophotometry indicates the presence of at least three cone visual pigments in two Australian marsupials, the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) and honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus). Here we have examined the distribution of cone types using antisera, JH455 and JH492, that recognize short-wavelength-sensitive (SWS) and medium-to-long-wavelength-sensitive (M/LWS) cone opsins, respectively. SWS cones were concentrated in dorso-temporal retina in the dunnart with a shallow decreasing gradient extending to the periphery (2300–1500/mm2). In the honey possum, SWS cones showed a uniform distribution (2700/mm2), except for a slight increase in a narrow peripheral band (3100/mm2). In both species, M/LWS cones dominated and their distributions were similar to those of retinal ganglion cells: a horizontal streak in the dunnart (31,000–21,000/mm2) and a shallow mid-ventral to peripheral gradient in the honey possum (37,000–26,000/mm2). A low number of cones remained unlabeled when the antisera were combined revealing further minority cone population(s). We discuss cone distributions in relation to visual capabilities and requirements of the species.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (50) ◽  
pp. E11817-E11826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Milosavljevic ◽  
Riccardo Storchi ◽  
Cyril G. Eleftheriou ◽  
Andrea Colins ◽  
Rasmus S. Petersen ◽  
...  

Information transfer in the brain relies upon energetically expensive spiking activity of neurons. Rates of information flow should therefore be carefully optimized, but mechanisms to control this parameter are poorly understood. We address this deficit in the visual system, where ambient light (irradiance) is predictive of the amount of information reaching the eye and ask whether a neural measure of irradiance can therefore be used to proactively control information flow along the optic nerve. We first show that firing rates for the retina’s output neurons [retinal ganglion cells (RGCs)] scale with irradiance and are positively correlated with rates of information and the gain of visual responses. Irradiance modulates firing in the absence of any other visual signal confirming that this is a genuine response to changing ambient light. Irradiance-driven changes in firing are observed across the population of RGCs (including in both ON and OFF units) but are disrupted in mice lacking melanopsin [the photopigment of irradiance-coding intrinsically photosensitive RGCs (ipRGCs)] and can be induced under steady light exposure by chemogenetic activation of ipRGCs. Artificially elevating firing by chemogenetic excitation of ipRGCs is sufficient to increase information flow by increasing the gain of visual responses, indicating that enhanced firing is a cause of increased information transfer at higher irradiance. Our results establish a retinal circuitry driving changes in RGC firing as an active response to alterations in ambient light to adjust the amount of visual information transmitted to the brain.


2011 ◽  
Vol 52 (8) ◽  
pp. 5515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Preethi S. Ganapathy ◽  
Richard E. White ◽  
Yonju Ha ◽  
B. Renee Bozard ◽  
Paul L. McNeil ◽  
...  

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 360 (6396) ◽  
pp. 1447-1451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guosong Hong ◽  
Tian-Ming Fu ◽  
Mu Qiao ◽  
Robert D. Viveros ◽  
Xiao Yang ◽  
...  

The retina, which processes visual information and sends it to the brain, is an excellent model for studying neural circuitry. It has been probed extensively ex vivo but has been refractory to chronic in vivo electrophysiology. We report a nonsurgical method to achieve chronically stable in vivo recordings from single retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in awake mice. We developed a noncoaxial intravitreal injection scheme in which injected mesh electronics unrolls inside the eye and conformally coats the highly curved retina without compromising normal eye functions. The method allows 16-channel recordings from multiple types of RGCs with stable responses to visual stimuli for at least 2 weeks, and reveals circadian rhythms in RGC responses over multiple day/night cycles.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barakat Alrashdi ◽  
Bassel Dawod ◽  
Andrea Schampel ◽  
Sabine Tacke ◽  
Stefanie Kuerten ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In multiple sclerosis (MS) and in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model of MS, the Nav1.6 voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channel isoform has been implicated as a primary contributor to axonal degeneration. Following demyelination Nav1.6, which is normally co-localized with the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) at the nodes of Ranvier, associates with β-APP, a marker of neural injury. The persistent influx of sodium through Nav1.6 is believed to reverse the function of NCX, resulting in an increased influx of damaging Ca2+ ions. However, direct evidence for the role of Nav1.6 in axonal degeneration is lacking. Methods In mice floxed for Scn8a, the gene that encodes the α subunit of Nav1.6, subjected to EAE we examined the effect of eliminating Nav1.6 from retinal ganglion cells (RGC) in one eye using an AAV vector harboring Cre and GFP, while using the contralateral either injected with AAV vector harboring GFP alone or non-targeted eye as control. Results In retinas, the expression of Rbpms, a marker for retinal ganglion cells, was found to be inversely correlated to the expression of Scn8a. Furthermore, the gene expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines Il6 (IL-6) and Ifng (IFN-γ), and of the reactive gliosis marker Gfap (GFAP) were found to be reduced in targeted retinas. Optic nerves from targeted eyes were shown to have reduced macrophage infiltration and improved axonal health. Conclusion Taken together, our results are consistent with Nav1.6 promoting inflammation and contributing to axonal degeneration following demyelination.


Redox Biology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 101199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumya Navneet ◽  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Barbara Mysona ◽  
Shannon Barwick ◽  
...  

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