Behavioral responses to light in mice with dorsal lateral geniculate lesions

Light has rapid direct effects on behavior and physiology that may be distinguished from its indirect effects that occur via synchronization of the biological clock. In nocturnal animals, light at night acutely suppresses the wheel running activity usually observed at that time of day. This is known as masking because light masks the overt expression of the circadian activity rhythm. In the present study, we compared the effects of light on wheel running in mice with bilateral electrolytic lesions of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (DLG) to those in sham-operated animals. DLG-lesioned animals exhibited greater suppression of wheel running in response to bright light than did the controls, but failed to exhibit the increased activity in response to dim light observed in intact animals. These findings support the view that masking effects of light on behavior comprise two opposing processes, one that increases activity and is mediated by the classical visual system, and another that suppresses activity and is mediated by a non image-forming irradiance detection system.