ArticleNature neuroscience2020
A circadian rhythm-gated subcortical pathway for nighttime-light-induced depressive-like behaviors in mice.
Article in Nature neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
86 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of visible light for seasonal affective disorder: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Phototherapy improves cognitive function in dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Different light color temperatures in the morning on the effectiveness of rehabilitation training in patients with ischemic stroke: a prospective, single-center, randomized controlled clinical trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Paternal Circadian Disruption Impairs Offspring Cognition via Sperm microRNAs.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Article
- Light-at-night exposure drives myopia via melanopsin signalling.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Article
- Preventing traumatic stress-induced behavioral abnormalities in rats with blue light phototherapy.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Bipolar cell networks underlying steady-state intensity encoding in intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells.iScience · 2026Article
- Bright light exposure suppresses feeding and weight gain via a visual circuit linked to the lateral hypothalamus.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- The Light-Eye-Brain Axis: Neurobiological Links Between Mood Disorders and Myopia-A Narrative Review.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2026Review
- Light tunes long-term threat avoidance behavior in male mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Neural mechanisms of the V2M-PrL pathway mediate blue light-induced spatial memory impairment.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Regional activity within the human amygdala varies with season, mood and illuminance.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Low-Intensity Constant Light During Early Postnatal Development Induces Sex-Specific Anxiety-Like Behaviour and Region- and Sex-Specific Changes in Circadian Gene Expression and RNA Editing.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Artificial outdoor light at night and depression in older adults in the USA, England, Northern Ireland, and Ireland.Environment international · 2025Article
- Novel and emerging physical treatments for major depressive disorder.Fundamental research · 2025Review
- Hypothalamic Orexin Projections to the Hippocampal CA1 Region Alleviate Cognitive and Synaptic Plasticity Impairments Induced by Blue Light Exposure.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Article
- Entheogen: an evolutionary medicine for neuropsychiatric disorders.National science review · 2025Article
- Analysis of the correlation between mental status and ocular and systemic indicators in patients with primary angle-closure glaucoma.BMC ophthalmology · 2025Article
- Light at night negatively affects mood in diurnal primate-like tree shrews via a visual pathway related to the perihabenular nucleus.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Besides generating vision, light modulates various physiological functions, including mood. While light therapy applied in the daytime is known to have anti-depressive properties, excessive light exposure at night has been reportedly associated with depressive symptoms. The neural mechanisms underlying this day-night difference in the effects of light are unknown. Using a light-at-night (LAN) paradigm in mice, we showed that LAN induced depressive-like behaviors without disturbing the circadian rhythm. This effect was mediated by a neural pathway from retinal melanopsin-expressing ganglion cells to the dorsal perihabenular nucleus (dpHb) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Importantly, the dpHb was gated by the circadian rhythm, being more excitable at night than during the day. This indicates that the ipRGC→dpHb→NAc pathway preferentially conducts light signals at night, thereby mediating LAN-induced depressive-like behaviors. These findings may be relevant when considering the mental health effects of the prevalent nighttime illumination in the industrial world.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.