Making (a) sense of non-visual ocular photoreception

Retinal degenerate mice lacking melanopsin or cryptochromes show contributions from both outer and inner photoreceptors to non-visual photoresponses.

• Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells send signals about light conditions to brain areas involved in circadian rhythms and pupil responses.
• The specific phototransduction systems used by these cells remain unidentified.
• Melanopsin and cryptochromes are suggested as possible photopigments for these cells.
• Findings indicate that both melanopsin and cryptochromes are important for non-visual responses to light.

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