Regional response to light illuminance across the human hypothalamus
Islay Campbell,
Roya Sharifpour,
Jose Fermin Balda Aizpurua,
Elise Beckers,
Ilenia Paparella,
Alexandre Berger,
Ekaterina Koshmanova,
Nasrin Mortazavi,
John Read,
Mikhail Zubkov,
Puneet Talwar,
Fabienne Collette,
Siya Sherif,
Christophe Phillips,
Laurent Lamalle,
Gilles Vandewalle
Affiliations
Islay Campbell
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Roya Sharifpour
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Jose Fermin Balda Aizpurua
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Elise Beckers
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium; Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
Ilenia Paparella
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Alexandre Berger
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium; Synergia Medical SA, Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium; Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
Ekaterina Koshmanova
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Nasrin Mortazavi
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
John Read
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Mikhail Zubkov
GIGA-CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Light exerts multiple non-image-forming biological effects on physiology including the stimulation of alertness and cognition. However, the subcortical circuitry underlying the stimulating impact of light is not established in humans. We used 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the impact of variations in light illuminance on the regional activity of the hypothalamus while healthy young adults (N=26; 16 women; 24.3±2.9 y) were completing two auditory cognitive tasks. We find that, during both the executive and emotional tasks, higher illuminance triggered an activity increase over the posterior part of the hypothalamus, which includes part of the tuberomamillary nucleus and the posterior part of the lateral hypothalamus. In contrast, increasing illuminance evoked a decrease in activity over the anterior and ventral parts of the hypothalamus, encompassing notably the suprachiasmatic nucleus and another part of the tuberomammillary nucleus. Critically, the performance of the executive task was improved under higher illuminance and was negatively correlated with the activity of the posterior hypothalamus area. These findings reveal the distinct local dynamics of different hypothalamus regions that underlie the impact of light on cognition.
