# Neural pathways of light aversion in a rodent model of migraine

> **NIH NIH K08** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2022 · $197,964

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY - This K08 career development award will facilitate the advancement of Dr. Eric
Kaiser as an independent physician-scientist focused on the neural mechanisms of pain from light in
migraine and related disorders. He is currently a clinical fellow in headache medicine but will return to
the University of Pennsylvania as an Instructor in the Department of Neurology. The career
development plan builds upon his prior expertise in rodent behavior while refining essential scientific
skills and teaching new technical skills to prepare him for an independent, cutting-edge career in
neuroscience. This will be accomplished by gaining hands-on technical experience using tailored light
stimuli in rodents, applying mouse genetics to study neurologic disorders, and performing
immunohistochemistry to dissect neural circuits. This will be complimented by formal didactics in mouse
genetics, ethics, biostatistics, and grant writing. These efforts will be supported by three mentors
including Dr. Frances Jensen, a renowned physician-scientist in neural plasticity and network
hyperexcitability, Dr. Geoffrey Aguirre, a physician scientist with expertise in visual perception, and Dr.
Wenqin Luo, a neuroscientist with expertise in somatosensation. Dr. Kaiser will also work with Dr. Maria
Geffen, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania that will act a consultant on optogenetic
techniques. The PI will also greatly benefit from the unparalleled resources and faculty at the University
of Pennsylvania and headache experts at the affiliated Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
The objective of this project is to examine the pathologic interaction of the visual and trigeminal sensory
systems. Photophobia is a canonical and debilitating feature of migraine, which is a disabling
neurologic disorder. Bright light perception involves the cones, which project to the classical retinal
ganglion cells (RGCs), and the melanopsin-containing, intrinsically photosensitive RGCs (ipRGCs).
Recent human studies by Drs. Kaiser and Aguirre demonstrate that both melanopsin and cone
stimulation in isolation and in combination can trigger visual discomfort in individuals with migraine. Dr.
Kaiser's central hypothesis is that ipRCG signals potentiate trigeminal activation leading to the aversive
perception of light in migraine. To investigate these interactions, the PI proposes to use a mouse model
of migraine in which a neuropeptide, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), induces light aversion.
Using tailored light stimuli to isolate cone and melanopsin activity, the PI will test their relative
contribution to CGRP-induced light aversion. To establish how trigeminal and retinal signals interact in
a migraine-like state, Dr. Kaiser will examine c-fos activation as a marker of neuronal activity in the
trigeminal and retinal pathways following CGRP and light stimulation as well as determine if primary
trigeminal afferents are required for CGRP-induced light aversion.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10474637
- **Project number:** 5K08NS120595-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Eric Alan Kaiser
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $197,964
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10474637

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10474637, Neural pathways of light aversion in a rodent model of migraine (5K08NS120595-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10474637. Licensed CC0.

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