Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD, United States.
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD, United States; Department of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Prog Brain Res. 2022;273(1):71-95. doi: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2022.02.016. Epub 2022 Mar 18.
Light is an important environmental stimulus that exerts a powerful influence on physiology and behavior across multiple timescales. Organisms have adapted to respond to the predictable 24-h light/dark cycle imposed by the solar day using this light information to appropriately time physiological and behavioral functions while acute changes in the light environment provide important salient cues to induce rapid responses. Variations in the light environment caused by seasonal changes in daylength as well as those prevalent in modern day life (artificial lighting, transmeridian travel) have made the light environment more irregular and unpredictable. Alterations in the regular timing of light input can have dramatic physiological and behavioral effects including a significant impact on mental health and increased prevalence of mood disorders. While the relationship between light and mood has been well established, the neuronal mechanisms underlying this relationship have remained unclear. Animal models paired with advanced technology have allowed scientists to perform detailed studies about light- dependent effects on mood-related behaviors that are not possible in human subjects. The contributions of these studies have provided novel insight into the features of light information (e.g., timing, wavelength, etc.) that are responsible for observed changes in mood-related behaviors while uncovering the brain regions, neurons, and molecules involved. In this chapter, we discuss the advancements made in deciphering neuronal mechanisms mediating light-dependent effects on mood using animal models.
光是一种重要的环境刺激因素，它在多个时间尺度上对生理和行为产生强大影响。生物体已经适应了利用这种光信息来响应由太阳日施加的可预测的 24 小时光/暗循环，以适当地调整生理和行为功能的时间，而光环境的急性变化提供了重要的显著线索，以诱导快速反应。由日照时间的季节性变化引起的光环境变化以及现代生活中普遍存在的光环境变化（人工照明、跨子午线旅行）使得光环境更加不规则和不可预测。光输入的规律时间的改变可能会产生显著的生理和行为影响，包括对心理健康的重大影响和情绪障碍的患病率增加。虽然光与情绪之间的关系已经得到很好的证实，但这种关系的神经机制仍然不清楚。动物模型与先进技术的结合使科学家能够对光依赖的情绪相关行为进行详细研究，而这些研究在人类受试者中是不可能进行的。这些研究的贡献为理解负责观察到的情绪相关行为变化的光信息（例如，时间、波长等）的特征提供了新的见解，同时揭示了涉及的大脑区域、神经元和分子。在本章中，我们讨论了使用动物模型来阐明介导光依赖的情绪效应的神经机制方面取得的进展。
