Huang Xiaodan, Wang Shengnan, Chen Zhiqing, Qu Wenna, Song Li, Hu Zhengfang, Xi Yue, Yang Yan, Hong Weng-Hei, Lin Song, So Kwok-Fai, Li Yulong, Huang Lu, Tao Qian, Ren Chaoran
State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Natural Bioactive Molecules and Discovery of Innovative Drugs, Department of Neurology and Stroke Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Key Laboratory of CNS Regeneration (Ministry of Education), Guangdong Key Laboratory of Non-human Primate Research, GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Natural Bioactive Molecules and Discovery of Innovative Drugs, Department of Neurology and Stroke Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Key Laboratory of CNS Regeneration (Ministry of Education), Guangdong Key Laboratory of Non-human Primate Research, GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
Cell Rep. 2025 Jun 24;44(6):115865. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115865. Epub 2025 Jun 13.
Light has a profound impact on non-visual functions, and clinical evidence suggests bright-light therapy's effectiveness in alleviating motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the neural mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that bright-light treatment alleviates PD symptoms in mice via distinct visual circuits. Specifically, bright-light signals transmitted by the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus alleviate non-motor symptoms, such as depressive-like behaviors and spatial memory deficits. Conversely, the improvement in motor symptoms with bright-light treatment depends on a separate, disynaptic visual pathway that connects the superficial layers of the superior colliculus to the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Notably, in this pathway, bright-light signals enhance the bursting activity of SNc dopaminergic neurons by upregulating HCN2 expression, a mechanism essential for motor improvements. These findings provide valuable insights into the neural mechanisms by which bright-light therapy benefits PD.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023-1-5
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024-4-8