ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2016
Deep-brain photoreception links luminance detection to motor output in Xenopus frog tadpoles.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
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- The physiological functions of OPN5m.Eye and vision (London, England) · 2025Review
- Non-visual photoreceptive brain specification in sea urchin larvae.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Reversible Control of Native GluN2B-Containing NMDA Receptors with Visible Light.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2024Article
- Photocatalytic manipulation of CaScience advances · 2024Article
- Photobehaviours guided by simple photoreceptor systems.Animal cognition · 2023Review
- Whole genome assembly of the armored loricariid catfish Ancistrus triradiatus highlights herbivory signatures.Molecular genetics and genomics : MGG · 2022Article
- Ocular and extraocular roles of neuropsin in vertebrates.Trends in neurosciences · 2022Review
- Non-visual Opsins and Novel Photo-Detectors in the Vertebrate Inner Retina Mediate Light Responses Within the Blue Spectrum Region.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2022Review
- Type II Opsins in the Eye, the Pineal Complex and the Skin ofFrontiers in neuroanatomy · 2021Review
- TMT-Opsins differentially modulate medaka brain function in a context-dependent manner.PLoS biology · 2021Article
- Exposure to Artificial Light at Night and the Consequences for Flora, Fauna, and Ecosystems.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2020Review
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
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Abstract
Nonvisual photoreceptors are widely distributed in the retina and brain, but their roles in animal behavior remain poorly understood. Here we document a previously unidentified form of deep-brain photoreception in Xenopus laevis frog tadpoles. The isolated nervous system retains sensitivity to light even when devoid of input from classical eye and pineal photoreceptors. These preparations produce regular bouts of rhythmic swimming activity in ambient light but fall silent in the dark. This sensitivity is tuned to short-wavelength UV light; illumination at 400 nm initiates motor activity over a broad range of intensities, whereas longer wavelengths do not cause a response. The photosensitive tissue is located in a small region of caudal diencephalon-this region is necessary to retain responses to illumination, whereas its focal illumination is sufficient to drive them. We present evidence for photoreception via the light-sensitive proteins opsin (OPN)5 and/or cryptochrome 1, because populations of OPN5-positive and cryptochrome-positive cells reside within the caudal diencephalon. This discovery represents a hitherto undescribed vertebrate pathway that links luminance detection to motor output. The pathway provides a simple mechanism for light avoidance and/or may reinforce classical circadian systems.
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