Circadian and Visual Neuroscience, Volume 273 in the Methods in Enzymology series, highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on topics including Optical set-ups, Psychophysics of Luminance and Color Vision, Psychophysics of non-visual photoreception PRC/IRC/DRC/Spectral Sensitivity, Circadian and visual photometry, Modelling (retina), Modelling (circadian), Techniques for examining vision at the cellular level, Advanced techniques for characterizing the world hyperspectrally, Circadian physiology in mice: Melanopsin, Circadian physiology in mice: Color and cones, Translational aspects of animal studies, Retinal clocks, Primate non-visual physiology, Light and mood in animal models, and much more. - Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors - Presents the latest release in Progress in Brain Research series - Updated release includes the latest information on Circadian and Visual Neuroscience

Daily rhythms are a ubiquitous feature of living systems. Generally, these rhythms are not just passive consequences of cyclic fluctuations in the environment, but instead originate within the organism. In mammals, including humans, the master pacemaker controlling 24-hour rhythms is localized in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the hypothalamus (SCN). This circadian clock is responsible for the temporal organization of a wide variety of functions, ranging from sleep and food intake, to physiological measures such as body temperature, heart rate and hormone release. Moreover, accumulating evidence suggests that dysfunction of the circadian rhythms due to genetic mutations or environmental factors (i.e., jet-lag or shift work) contribute to the development of many pathologies, including sleep disorders, mood and affective disorders such as major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, as well as the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders.

Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGGs) are the most recently discovered photoreceptor class in the human retina. This Element integrates new knowledge and perspectives from visual neuroscience, psychology, sleep science and architecture to discuss how melanopsin-mediated ipRGC functions can be measured and their circuits manipulated. It reveals contemporary and emerging lighting technologies as powerful tools to set mind, brain and behaviour.

Leading authors review the state-of-the-art in their field of investigation, and provide their views and perspectives for future researchChapters are extensively referenced to provide readers with a comprehensive list of resources on the topics coveredAll chapters include comprehensive background information and are written in a clear form that is also accessible to the non-specialist - Leading authors review the state-of-the-art in their field of investigation, and provide their views and perspectives for future research - Chapters are extensively referenced to provide readers with a comprehensive list of resources on the topics covered - All chapters include comprehensive background information and are written in a clear form that is also accessible to the non-specialist

Photopigments are molecules that react to light and mediate a number of processes and behaviours in animals. Visual pigments housed within the photoreceptors of the eye, such as the rods and cones in vertebrates are the best known, however, visual pigments are increasingly being found in other tissues, including other retinal cells, the skin and the brain. Other closely related molecules from the G protein family, such as melanopsin mediate light driven processes including circadian rhythmicity and pupil constriction. This Volume examines the enormous diversity of visual pigments and traces the evolution of these G protein coupled receptors in both invertebrates and vertebrates in the context of the visual and non-visual demands dictated by a species’ ecological niche.

This book deals with the cellular biology, biochemistry and physiology of photoreceptors and their interactions with the second-order neurons, bipolar and horizontal cells. The focus is upon the contributions made by these neurons to vision. Thus the basic neurobiology of the outer retina is related to the visual process, and visual defects that could arise from abnormalities in this part of the retina are highlighted in the first 16 chapters. Since all vertebrate retinas have the same basic structure and physiological plan, examples are given from a variety of species, with an emphasis upon mammals, extending to human vision. The last four chapters approach the problem from the other end. This part of the book covers a range of clinical conditions involving visual abnormalities that are due to cellular defects in the outer retina. Although the contents of this book do not represent the proceedings of a conference, the concept arose at an international symposium on 'Recent Advances in Retinal Research' which was held at the International Marine Centre in Oristano, Sardinia. We hope that the book will give a coherent, up to date review of the neurobiology and clinical aspects of the outer retina and encourage further integration of these areas. Retinal neurobiology has been an intense field of investigation for several decades. More recently, it has seen significant advances with the application of modern techniques of cell and molecular biology.

This selection of articles from the Encyclopedia of the Eye covering retina, optics/optic nerve and comparative topics constitutes the first reference for scientists, post docs, and graduate students with an interest beyond standard textbook materials. It covers the full spectrum of research on the retina - from the basic biochemistry of how nerve cells are created to information on neurotransmitters, comparisons of the structure and neuroscience of peripheral vision systems in different species, and all the way through to injury repair and other clinical applications. - The first single volume to integrate comparative studies into a comprehensive resource on the neuroscience of the retina - Chapters are carefully selected from the Encyclopedia of the Eye by one of the world's leading vision researchers - The best researchers in the field provide their conclusions in the context of the latest experimental results

Timing and Time Perception: Procedures, Measures, and Applications is a one-of-a-kind, collective effort to present the most utilized and known methods on timing and time perception. Specifically, it covers methods and analysis on circadian timing, synchrony perception, reaction/response time, time estimation, and alternative methods for clinical/developmental research. The book includes experimental protocols, programming code, and sample results and the content ranges from very introductory to more advanced so as to cover the needs of both junior and senior researchers. We hope that this will be the first step in future efforts to document experimental methods and analysis both in a theoretical and in a practical manner. Contributors are: Patricia V. Agostino, Rocío Alcalá-Quintana, Fuat Balcı, Karin Bausenhart, Richard Block, Ivana L. Bussi, Carlos S. Caldart, Mariagrazia Capizzi, Xiaoqin Chen, Ángel Correa, Massimiliano Di Luca, Céline Z. Duval, Mark T. Elliott, Dagmar Fraser, David Freestone, Miguel A. García-Pérez, Anne Giersch, Simon Grondin, Nori Jacoby, Florian Klapproth, Franziska Kopp, Maria Kostaki, Laurence Lalanne, Giovanna Mioni, Trevor B. Penney, Patrick E. Poncelet, Patrick Simen, Ryan Stables, Rolf Ulrich, Argiro Vatakis, Dominic Ward, Alan M. Wing, Kieran Yarrow, and Dan Zakay.

5. 1. 1 Biological Rhythms and Clocks From an evolutionary perspective, the adaptation of an organism’s behavior to its environment has depended on one of life’s fundamental traits: biological rhythm generation. In virtually all light-sensitive organisms from cyanobacteria to humans, biological clocks adapt cyclic physiology to geophysical time with time-keeping properties in the circadian (24 h), ultradian (24 h) domains (Edmunds, 1988; Lloyd, 1998; Lloyd et al. , 2001; Lloyd and Murray, 2006; Lloyd, 2007; Pittendrigh, 1993; Sweeney and Hastings, 1960) By definition, all rhythms exhibit regular periodicities since they constitute a mechanism of timing. Timing exerted by oscillatory mechanisms are found throughout the biological world and their periods span a wide range from milliseconds, as in the action potential of n- rons and the myocytes, to the slow evolutionary changes that require thousands of generations. In this context, to understand the synchronization of a population of coupled oscillators is an important problem for the dynamics of physiology in living systems (Aon et al. , 2007a, b; Kuramoto, 1984; Strogatz, 2003; Winfree, 1967). Circadian rhythms, the most intensively studied, are devoted to measuring daily 24 h cycles. A variety of physiological processes in a wide range of eukaryotic organisms display circadian rhythmicity which is characterized by the following major properties (Anderson et al. , 1985; Edmunds, 1988): (i) stable, autonomous (self-sustaining) oscillations having a free-running period under constant envir- mental conditions of ca.

Rhythmic changes in physiology and behaviour within a 24 h period occur in living organisms on earth to meet the challenges associated with the daily changes in the external environment. The circadian pacemaker responsible for the temporal internal organisation and the generation of endogenous rhythms of approximately 24 h is located in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in mammals. The endogenous period generated by the pacemaker is close to, but generally not equal to 24 h and the biological clock therefore needs to be daily adjusted (entrained) by external cues. The daily alteration of light and darkness due to the rotation of our planet on its own axis in relation to the sun is the most prominent "zeitgeber" which adjusts the phase of the circadian rhythms to the astronomical day length, a process known as photoentrainment. In mammals, light is perceived only through photoreceptors located in the retina. Light information is mediated to the SCN via the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT) by activation of the classical photoreceptor system of rods and cones and a more recently identified system of intrinsic photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) using melanopsin as a photopigment.