Light is the most powerful environmental signal regulating physiology and behavior across species. While commonly associated with vision, the eye fulfills a dual role (both visual and non-visual) depending on the photoreceptors it activates (Lockley & Gooley, 2006). Classical photoreceptors, rods and cones, enable vision, allowing us to perceive shapes, colors, and motion. However, a third class of photoreceptors - intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) - express the photopigment melanopsin and are crucial for non-visual effects of light (Provencio et al., 2000; Berson et., 2002). These include the regulation of circadian rhythms, sleep-wake cycles, hormonal activity, alertness, mood, and cognitive processes (Hattar et al., 2006; Morin, 2015).
My doctoral research at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), within the WAKING team and under the supervision of Dr. Claude Gronfier, focuses on the Non-visual effects of light in humans: from photobiological mechanisms to behavior.
