ArticleNature communications2021
The retinal ipRGC-preoptic circuit mediates the acute effect of light on sleep.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers.
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed.
- Examining the Effects of Bright Light Therapy on Sleep and Resting-State Brain Activity in Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Crossover Pilot Study.Nature and science of sleep · 2026Trial
- Trial
- SEX-DEPENDENT MODULATION OF WHOLE BRAIN cFOS EXPRESSION BY LIGHT AND MELANOPSIN IN THE MOUSE.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Light exposure and sleep architecture in real-world settings.Npj biological timing and sleep · 2026Article
- Cortical excitability is affected by light exposure - Distinct effects in adolescents and young adults.Neurobiology of sleep and circadian rhythms · 2026Article
- Short-term continuous light exposure induces hippocampal rhythmic and functional alterations: a multi-timepoint metabolomics study.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2026Article
- Retinal light perception and biological rhythms: The role of light in sleep and mood from an ophthalmic perspective (Review).Molecular medicine reports · 2026Review
- Cone-Specific Filter-Based Neuromodulation: A Proposed Clinical Framework for Amblyopia, Strabismus, and ADHD.Clinics and practice · 2025Article
- Melanopsin contributes to circadian photic responses in mice in a sex-dependent manner.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- A lateral hypothalamic region supporting diverse visual processing and modulation of visually-guided behaviour.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Association Between Eye Diseases and Sleep Duration: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.Psychiatry investigation · 2025Article
- Corticotropin-releasing hormone modulates NREM sleep consolidation through the thalamic reticular nucleus.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The electroretinography to identify biomarkers of idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy type 1.Journal of sleep research · 2025Article
- Loss of Bmal1 impairs the glutamatergic light input to the SCN in mice.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2025Article
- Light-eye-body axis: exploring the network from retinal illumination to systemic regulation.Theranostics · 2025Review
- Examining the role of the photopigment melanopsin in the striatal dopamine response to light.Frontiers in systems neuroscience · 2025Article
- Association between a large change between the minimum and maximum monthly values of solar insolation and a history of suicide attempts in bipolar I disorder.International journal of bipolar disorders · 2024Article
- Article
- A Light-Responsive Neural Circuit Suppresses Feeding.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- Differences in the pupillary responses to evening light between children and adolescents.Journal of physiological anthropology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Light regulates daily sleep rhythms by a neural circuit that connects intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) to the circadian pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Light, however, also acutely affects sleep in a circadian-independent manner. The neural circuits involving the acute effect of light on sleep remain unknown. Here we uncovered a neural circuit that drives this acute light response, independent of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, but still through ipRGCs. We show that ipRGCs substantially innervate the preoptic area (POA) to mediate the acute light effect on sleep in mice. Consistently, activation of either the POA projecting ipRGCs or the light-responsive POA neurons increased non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep without influencing REM sleep. In addition, inhibition of the light-responsive POA neurons blocked the acute light effects on NREM sleep. The predominant light-responsive POA neurons that receive ipRGC input belong to the corticotropin-releasing hormone subpopulation. Remarkably, the light-responsive POA neurons are inhibitory and project to well-known wakefulness-promoting brain regions, such as the tuberomammillary nucleus and the lateral hypothalamus. Therefore, activation of the ipRGC-POA circuit inhibits arousal brain regions to drive light-induced NREM sleep. Our findings reveal a functional retina-brain circuit that is both necessary and sufficient for the acute effect of light on sleep.
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