Encoding of environmental illumination by primate melanopsin neurons.
Andreas LiuElliott S MilnerYi-Rong PengHannah A BlumeMichael C BrownGregory S BrymanAlan J EmanuelPhilippe MorquetteNguyen-Minh VietJoshua R SanesPaul D GamlinMichael Tri H DoPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2023)
Light regulates physiology, mood, and behavior through signals sent to the brain by intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs). How primate ipRGCs sense light is unclear, as they are rare and challenging to target for electrophysiological recording. We developed a method of acute identification within the live, ex vivo retina. Using it, we found that ipRGCs of the macaque monkey are highly specialized to encode irradiance (the overall intensity of illumination) by blurring spatial, temporal, and chromatic features of the visual scene. We describe mechanisms at the molecular, cellular, and population scales that support irradiance encoding across orders-of-magnitude changes in light intensity. These mechanisms are conserved quantitatively across the ~70 million years of evolution that separate macaques from mice.
Keyphrases
- induced apoptosis
- high intensity
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- cell cycle arrest
- respiratory failure
- diabetic retinopathy
- signaling pathway
- resting state
- risk assessment
- oxidative stress
- depressive symptoms
- human health
- cell proliferation
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- functional connectivity
- life cycle
- acute respiratory distress syndrome