A lateral hypothalamic region supporting diverse visual processing and modulation of visually-guided behaviour.

ABSTRACT: Hypothalamic retinal input is traditionally considered distinct from the subcortical pathways supporting vision, specialised to adjust physiology and behaviour alongside variations in ambient illumination. Investigations of retinohypothalamic function have overwhelming focussed on the suprachiasmatic nucleus circadian clock, however. Here we employ multielectrode recording, viral tracing and chemogenetic manipulation in mice to show that another retinohypothalamic target, the anterior lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), displays diverse visual processing capabilities, supporting regulation of more complex visually-guided behaviours. Hence, while some visually responsive LHA cells track irradiance, a majority are highly selective for spatiotemporal contrast or motion signals. We further provid

SUBMITTER: Mouland JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12606360 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature