Parallel visual processing in the suprachiasmatic region of a diurnal mammal.

Abstract

Light shapes mammalian physiology and behaviour through hypothalamic pathways, yet how these pathways process visual information in day-active species remains poorly understood. Based largely on work in nocturnal rodents, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is classically viewed as a retinal target that encodes ambient illumination for circadian entrainment. We combine anatomical tracing, light-evoked c-Fos mapping and high-density silicon-probe electrophysiology to define visual processing in the suprachiasmatic region of the diurnal murid Rhabdomys pumilio. We find that retinal input and light-evoked activity extend beyond the SCN into rostral and lateral peri-SCN hypothalamus. Within the SCN, neurons encode irradiance with graded changes in maintained firing broadly similar to those observed in parallel recordings of nocturnal Mus domesticus. Across the wider suprachiasmatic region, Rhabdomys neurons show selectivity for more dynamic visual stimuli, including luminance transitions, contrast and temporal structure. Unsupervised clustering identifies five functionally distinct hypothalamic visual response classes with different anatomical distributions. These findings reveal an expanded hypothalamic visual network in a diurnal mammal, placing SCN irradiance coding within a broader system for processing dynamic visual features.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{orlowskafeuer2026parallel,
  title = {{Parallel visual processing in the suprachiasmatic region of a diurnal mammal.}},
  author = {P. Orlowska-Feuer and J. Rodgers and R. Richardson and A. Dedigama Acharige and M. Davey and N. Milosavljevic and A. E. Allen and T. M. Brown and F. P. Martial and R. Storchi and B. Bano Otalora and R. J. Lucas},
  howpublished = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.64898/2026.09.07.749833},
  url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.07.749833v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Parallel visual processing in the suprachiasmatic region of a diurnal mammal.
AU  - P. Orlowska-Feuer
AU  - J. Rodgers
AU  - R. Richardson
AU  - A. Dedigama Acharige
AU  - M. Davey
AU  - N. Milosavljevic
AU  - A. E. Allen
AU  - T. M. Brown
AU  - F. P. Martial
AU  - R. Storchi
AU  - B. Bano Otalora
AU  - R. J. Lucas
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/07
PB  - bioRxiv
DO  - 10.64898/2026.09.07.749833
UR  - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.07.749833v1
AB  - Light shapes mammalian physiology and behaviour through hypothalamic pathways, yet how these pathways process visual information in day-active species remains poorly understood. Based largely on work in nocturnal rodents, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is classically viewed as a retinal target that encodes ambient illumination for circadian entrainment. We combine anatomical tracing, light-evoked c-Fos mapping and high-density silicon-probe electrophysiology to define visual processing in the suprachiasmatic region of the diurnal murid Rhabdomys pumilio. We find that retinal input and light-evoked activity extend beyond the SCN into rostral and lateral peri-SCN hypothalamus. Within the SCN, neurons encode irradiance with graded changes in maintained firing broadly similar to those observed in parallel recordings of nocturnal Mus domesticus. Across the wider suprachiasmatic region, Rhabdomys neurons show selectivity for more dynamic visual stimuli, including luminance transitions, contrast and temporal structure. Unsupervised clustering identifies five functionally distinct hypothalamic visual response classes with different anatomical distributions. These findings reveal an expanded hypothalamic visual network in a diurnal mammal, placing SCN irradiance coding within a broader system for processing dynamic visual features.
ER  -

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