Summary
The circadian system modulates adult neurogenesis — a key process for brain plasticity and cognition — through both systemic factors (hormones, neurotransmitters) and intrinsic cellular mechanisms (clock genes, redox state). Disrupted light regimes that impair circadian rhythms may suppress neurogenesis and accelerate cognitive decline, suggesting that optimized lighting could serve as a therapeutic lever for neurodegenerative conditions.
Key Findings
- Circadian disruption (chronodisruption) from detrimental light regimes is associated with impaired adult neurogenesis in mammalian models, linking light environment directly to brain plasticity.
- Adult neurogenesis is regulated by rhythmic systemic factors including melatonin, glucocorticoids, and neurotrophic factors — all of which are under circadian clock control.
- Clock genes within neural progenitor cells (intrinsic molecular clockwork) play a direct modulatory role in the multistep neurogenesis process, independent of systemic signals.
- The review concludes that understanding circadian modulation of neurogenesis may lead to new treatment strategies for cognitive deterioration in neurodegenerative diseases.
Categories
Sleep & Circadian Health: Reviews how the circadian system regulates adult neurogenesis through hormones, neurotransmitters, and clock genes, with implications for chronodisruption from light regimes.
Dementia & Elder Care: Discusses how circadian disruption impairs adult neurogenesis and contributes to cognitive deterioration associated with neurodegenerative diseases.
The Science of Light: Examines how detrimental light regimes cause chronodisruption that negatively affects neurogenesis via the circadian molecular clockwork.
Author(s)
AAH Ali, C von Gall
Publication Year
2022
Number of Citations
19
Related Publications
Sleep & Circadian Health
- Phototransduction by retinal ganglion cells that set the circadian clock
- The mammalian circadian timing system: organization and coordination of central and peripheral clocks
- The two‐process model of sleep regulation: a reappraisal
- Melanopsin is required for non-image-forming photic responses in blind mice
- Strange vision: ganglion cells as circadian photoreceptors
Dementia & Elder Care
- Light therapy and Alzheimer's disease and related dementia: past, present, and future
- New strategies for neuroprotection in glaucoma, a disease that affects the central nervous system
- Sleep and circadian rhythms in Parkinson's disease and preclinical models
- Chronobioengineering indoor lighting to enhance facilities for ageing and Alzheimer's disorder
- The clock is ticking. Ageing of the circadian system: from physiology to cell cycle
The Science of Light
- Phototransduction by retinal ganglion cells that set the circadian clock
- Color appearance models
- The mammalian circadian timing system: organization and coordination of central and peripheral clocks
- Diminished pupillary light reflex at high irradiances in melanopsin-knockout mice
- Melanopsin is required for non-image-forming photic responses in blind mice