Luminance coding properties of intergeniculate leaflet neurons in the golden hamster and the effects of chronic clorgyline

Cells in the intergeniculate leaflet (IGL) project to the suprachiasmatic nuclei, a mammalian circadian pacemaker. Chronic treatment with clorgyline alters hamster circadian rhythms in ways similar to alterations seen after ablation of the IGL. Chronic clorgyline also alters the light intensity dependence of phase-shifting. In this study luminance coding properties of IGL cells were measured in control hamsters and in hamsters chronically treated with clorgyline. In control animals three patterns of response to increasing and decreasing luminance were observed. Type I cells showed a monotonic pattern. Type II cells were similar to Type I with additional increases in firing rate at several specific luminance levels. Type III cells only coded increases in luminance. Cells from clorgyline-treated animals did not differ from those from control animals in the pattern of luminance response but IGL cells from these animals showed decreased firing rate in both light and dark conditions. These results suggest that the effects of clorgyline on the photic sensitivity of circadian rhythms may be related to a clorgyline-induced decrease in firing rate of IGL cells. They also indicate that some IGL cells show complex patterns of response to luminance changes in addition to those showing simple monotonic responses.