Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial |
Professional items | World psychology | The Retinohypothalamic
tract (RHT) is a photic input pathway involved in circadian
rhythms. The RHT is the input pathway to the suprachiasmatic
nucleus, and is important in the entrainment of our 'body clock'
to the external environment. The retinal cells involved in the
RHT are photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells, which contain
melanopsin. The information these retinal cells receive on day-
length is interpreted by the SCN, and passed onto the pineal
gland, which then secretes the hormone melatonin in response to
this exogenous environmental signal.