Trainee Profile

Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital

As a pre-doctoral fellow in the Training Program in Sleep, Circadian and Respiratory Neurobiology, Mr. Gooley discovered that melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells project to the circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the anterior hypothalamus. Melanopsin cells were also shown to project to the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus, the ventral subparaventricular zone, the olivary pretectal nucleus, and the interegeniculate leaflet. Collectively, these studies suggest that melanopsin plays a broad role in nonvisual photoreception including photic circadian entrainment, the pupillary light reflex, and the regulation of sleep/wakefulness.

In subsequent work, Dr. Gooley showed that neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH) are critical for the expression of food entrainable circadian rhythms.

Currently, Dr. Gooley is characterizing the photoreceptor system in humans that mediates non-image-forming vision.

Charles A. Czeisler, PhD, MD; Clifford B. Saper, MD, PhD

Teaching Assistant, MCB 186: Circadian Biology, Harvard University, 2002-03, 2005-06

Recent Awards
Awards and Honors:
2007     Young Investigator Award, Sleep Research Society

Zaidi FH, Hull JT, Peirson SN, Wulff K, Aeschbach D, Gooley JJ, Brainard GC, Gregory-Evans K, Rizzo III JF, Czeisler CA, Foster RG, Moseley MJ, Lockley SW. Short-wavelength light sensitivity of circadian, pupillary, and visual awareness in humans lacking an outer retina.
Current Biology 2007; 17(24), 2122-2128.

Lockley SW, Gooley JJ. Circadian Photoreception: Spotlight on the Brain.
Curr Biol 2006; 16(18):R795-R797. [PMID: 16979545]

Fuller PM, Gooley JJ, Saper CB. Neurobiology of the sleep-wake cycle: sleep architecture, circadian regulation and regulatory feedback.
J Biol Rhythms 2006; 21:482-493. [PMID: 17107938]

Gooley, JJ, Schomer A, Saper CB (2006) The dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus is critical for the expression of food-entrainable circadian rhythms.
Nat Neurosci, 9(3): 398-407.

Saper CB, Lu J, Chou TC, Gooley JJ (2005) The hypothalamic integrator for circadian rhythms.
Trends Neurosci, 28(3): 152-157.

Gooley JJ and Saper CB: Anatomy of the mammalian circadian system.
In Kryger, Roth, Dement (eds): Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine, 4th edition. Elsevier, 2005: 335-350.

Gooley JJ and Saper CB (2004) The dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus is critical for food entrainment of circadian rhythms.
Soc. Neurosci. Abst. 545.18. San Diego, CA.

Gooley JJ and Saper CB (2004) Effects of DMH lesions on circadian entrainment by restricted feeding cycles.
Soc. Res. Biol. Rhythms Abst. 172. Whistler, B.C.

Gooley JJ and Saper CB (2003) The effects of food restriction on circadian rhythms in subparaventricular zone-lesioned animals.
Soc. Neurosci. Abst. 510.20. New Orleans, LA.

Gooley JJ, Lu J, Fischer D, Saper CB. A broad role for melanopsin in nonvisual photoreception.
J Neurosci 23:7093-7106, 2003.

Lu C, Huang X, Ma HF, Gooley JJ, Aparacio J, Roof DJ, Chen C, Chen DF, Li T. Normal retinal development and retinofugal projections in mice lacking the retina-specific variant of actin-binding LIM domain protein.
Neuroscience 120:121-131, 2003.

Chou TC, Scammell TE, Gooley JJ, Gaus SE, Saper CB, Lu J. Critical role of dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus in a wide range of behavioral circadian rhythms.
J Neurosci 23:10691-10702, 2003.

Gooley JJ and Saper CB (2002) A broad role for melanopsin in non-visual photoreception based on neuroanatomical evidence in rats. SRBR abstract.

Gooley JJ, Lu J, Chou TC, Scammell TE, Saper CB (2001) Melanopsin in cells of origin of the retinohypothalamic tract.
Nat Neurosci 4:1165.