Chronobiology
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Chronobiology is a field of biology that examines timing processes, including periodic phenomena in living organisms, such as their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms. These cycles are kno
Light enters the eye and hits the retinal pigmented epithelium (maroon). This excites rods (grey) and cones (blue/red). These cells synapse onto bipolar cells (pink), which stimulate ipRGCs (green) and RGCs (orange). Both RGCs and ipRGCs transmit information to the brain through the optic nerve. Furthermore, light can directly stimulate the ipRGCs through its melanopsin photopigment. The ipRGCs uniquely project to the superchiasmatic nucleus, allowing the organism to entrain to light-dark cycles.
Tree of life by Haeckel
Melanopsin
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Melanopsin is a type of photopigment belonging to a larger family of light-sensitive retinal proteins called opsins and encoded in humans by the gene OPN4. In the mammalian retina, there are two addit
Chronobiology
…difficult to get funding for such research on any other organisms than mice, rats, humans and fruit flies. In 2002, Hattar and his colleagues showed that melanopsin plays a key role in a variety of photic responses, including pupillary light reflex, and synchronization of the biological clock to daily light-dark…
Nerve cells containing melanopsin are shown in blue in the spread out retina.