Enlightening the brain: Linking deep brain
photoreception with behavior and physiology.
From a larger perspective, the intersection of the circadian
photoreception and depression literatures that occurred throughout the 2000s began to provide a roadmap for how to escape the "hammer" approach that has long dominated phototherapy practice.
Although the visible light-sensitive opsins in ME photoreceptors have now been characterized, the functional relevance of visible light
photoreception in MEs remains largely a mystery (see Introduction).
Saper, "A broad role for melanopsin in nonvisual
photoreception," The Journal of Neuroscience, vol.
Lucas, "Mammalian inner retinal
photoreception," Current Biology, vol.
Melanopsin and inner retinal
photoreception. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 67(1), 99-111.
Circadian
photoreception: Ageing and the eye's important role in systemic health.
The assumption here is that LEDs emit more blue light; but once again, the new study shows a strong correlation between CCT and stimulation of the specialized non visual eye cells that play a major role in the circadian
photoreception system.
Flies and mammals both rely on dedicated circadian photoreceptors (CRY, melanopsin) and on canonical visual
photoreception to synchronize circadian rhythms with the LD cycle [55-57].
ChR2 is expressed mainly under low-light conditions, suggesting that the protein is involved in
photoreception in dark-adapted Chlamydomonas cells.