Distinct ipRGC subpopulations mediate light's acute and circadian effects on body temperature and sleep

The light environment greatly impacts human alertness, mood, and cognition by both acute regulation of physiology and indirect alignment of circadian rhythms. These processes require the melanopsin-expressing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), but the relevant downstream b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2019-07, Vol.8
Main Authors: Rupp, Alan C, Ren, Michelle, Altimus, Cara M, Fernandez, Diego C, Richardson, Melissa, Turek, Fred, Hattar, Samer, Schmidt, Tiffany M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ablation
Acute effects
Animals
Body temperature
Body Temperature - genetics
Brain - metabolism
Brain - physiology
circadian
Circadian Rhythm - genetics
Circadian rhythms
Cognition
Electroencephalography
Humans
ipRGC
Light
Melanopsin
Mice
Mood
Neuroscience
Neurosciences
Photoreceptor Cells - metabolism
Physiology
Retina
Retinal ganglion cells
Retinal Ganglion Cells - metabolism
Retinal Ganglion Cells - physiology
Rod Opsins - genetics
Rod Opsins - metabolism
Sleep
Sleep - genetics
Sleep - physiology
Software
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus - metabolism
temperature
Temperature effects
Visual Pathways - metabolism
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Summary:The light environment greatly impacts human alertness, mood, and cognition by both acute regulation of physiology and indirect alignment of circadian rhythms. These processes require the melanopsin-expressing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), but the relevant downstream brain areas involved remain elusive. ipRGCs project widely in the brain, including to the central circadian pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Here we show that body temperature and sleep responses to acute light exposure are absent after genetic ablation of all ipRGCs except a subpopulation that projects to the SCN. Furthermore, by chemogenetic activation of the ipRGCs that avoid the SCN, we show that these cells are sufficient for acute changes in body temperature. Our results challenge the idea that the SCN is a major relay for the acute effects of light on non-image forming behaviors and identify the sensory cells that initiate light's profound effects on body temperature and sleep.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.44358