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Light acts through melanopsin to alter retinal waves and segregation of retinogeniculate afferents

Nature Neuroscience volume 14, pages 827–829 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Waves of correlated activity sweeping across the early postnatal mouse retina promote the segregation and refinement of retinofugal projections. This process has been thought to be spontaneous and unaffected by visual experience. We found, however, that light prolongs spiking during the waves and enhances the segregation of retinogeniculate afferents, and that it did so by activating melanopsin-expressing, intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells.

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Figure 1: Light increases wave duration in conventional ganglion cells.
Figure 2: Light enhances ocular segregation of retinogeniculate afferents by a melanopsin-dependent mechanism.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Hattar for sharing his Opn4Cre mouse line, J. Gandy for assistance with data processing and D. Boghossian for technical assistance. In addition, we would like to thank M. Crair and O. Dhande for advice on ocular injection techniques. This work was supported by US National Institutes of Health R01 grants EY012793 and EY017137, and F32 grant EY020108.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

    Jordan M Renna, Shijun Weng & David M Berson

Authors
  1. Jordan M Renna
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  2. Shijun Weng
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  3. David M Berson
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Contributions

S.W. performed the multi-electrode array recordings. J.M.R. performed the loose-patch recordings and the anatomical tracing studies. J.M.R. carried out all data analysis for both electrophysiological and anatomical studies. J.M.R. and D.M.B. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jordan M Renna.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Renna, J., Weng, S. & Berson, D. Light acts through melanopsin to alter retinal waves and segregation of retinogeniculate afferents. Nat Neurosci 14, 827–829 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2845

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