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NEURAL CIRCUITS

Illuminating a path from light to depression

Our light environment can strongly influence our mental health. Kai An and colleagues dissect the neuronal circuit mediating depression-related behaviors induced by mistimed light input in mice, implicating the nucleus accumbens as the downstream target of the neural pathway between intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells and the perihabenular nucleus.

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Fig. 1: Neuronal circuits underlying effects of light at night on mood.

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Correspondence to Tara A. LeGates.

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LeGates, T.A., Kvarta, M.D. Illuminating a path from light to depression. Nat Neurosci 23, 785–787 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-020-0659-x

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