Mark D. Rollag

TL;DR: The results suggest that, in humans, a single photopigment may be primarily responsible for melatonin suppression, and its peak absorbance appears to be distinct from that of rod and cone cellphotopigments for vision.

TL;DR: The unique inner retinal localization of melanopsin suggests that it is not involved in image formation but rather may mediate nonvisual photoreceptive tasks, such as the regulation of circadian rhythms and the acute suppression of pineal melatonin.

TL;DR: Melanopsin mRNA is expressed in hypothalamic sites thought to contain deep brain photoreceptors and in the iris, a structure known to be directly photosensitive in amphibians, and expression in retinal and nonretinal tissues suggests a role in vision and nonvisual photoreceptive tasks.

TL;DR: These mice display severely attenuated phase resetting in response to brief pulses of monochromatic light, highlighting the critical role of melanopsin in circadian photoentrainment in mammals.

TL;DR: It is observed that mice with both outer-retinal degeneration and a deficiency in melanopsin exhibited complete loss of photoentrainment of the circadian oscillator, pupillary light responses, photic suppression of arylalkylamine-N-acetyltransferase transcript, and acute suppression of locomotor activity by light, indicating the importance of both nonvisual and classical visual photoreceptor systems for nonvisual photic responses in mammals.