Researchers discover brain circuit that explains how light affects mood

Jul 10, 2022

New Delhi, July 10 (ANI): In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research team used functional MRI to reveal how light-intensity signals reach the brain, and how brain structures involved in mood process those signals. The study demonstrated that some regions of the cerebral cortex involved in cognitive processing and mood show sensitivity to light intensity. The discovery has implications for understanding mood problems like seasonal affective disorder and major depressive disorders, as well as how to treat them, said lead study author Jerome Sanes, a Brown professor of neuroscience affiliated with the University's Carney Institute for Brain Science. They found that light suppressed activity in the prefrontal cortex is proportion to the light intensity.