Retinal and Brain Circuits Underlying the Light Effects on Circadian Rhythms, Mood and Learning

October 31, 2018 @ 05:00 pm to 06:00 pm

Samer Hattar, National Institutes of Health

108 Wartik Lab with video to hershey COM Room CG624F
University Park

Event Website

For many years, it was assumed that rods and cones are the only photoreceptors capable of detecting light in the mammalian retina. However, research from several laboratories uncovered a third type of photoreceptor cell in the mammalian retina, called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) that express their own photopigment called melanopsin. Our main goals are to understand how ipRGCs detect light and send light information to the brain to regulate physiology and behavior. We have shown that these cells target many visual centers in the brain including the circadian pacemaker and the area responsible for pupil constriction, among many others, and are critical for lights influence on circadian rhythms and pupil constriction. From this study, it was concluded that ipRGCs contribute only to non-image forming visual functions but not image formation.

Contact

Paul Bartell
pab43@psu.edu
814-867-2365