Head direction cells efference copy") preparing the network for an impending head turn. HD cells continue to fire in an organized manner during sleep, as if animals were awake. However, instead of always pointing toward the same direction—the animals are asleep and thus immobile—the neuronal "compass needle" moves constantly. In particular, during rapid eye movement sleep, a brain state rich in dreaming activity in humans and whose electrical activity is virtually indistinguishable from the waking brain, this directional signal moves as if the animal is awake: that is, HD neurons are sequentially activated, and the individual neurons representing a common direction during wake
Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells able to isomerize "all-trans-"retinal into "11-cis-"retinal when stimulated with light without help from additional cells. The two isoforms of melanopsin differ in their spectral sensitivity, for the "11-cis"-retinal isoform is more responsive to shorter wavelengths of light, while the "all-trans" isoform is more responsive to longer wavelengths of light. ipRGCs are both pre- and postsynaptic to dopaminergic amacrine cells (DA cells) via reciprocal synapses, with ipRGCs sending excitatory signals to the DA cells and the DA cells sending inhibitory signals to the ipRGCs. These inhibitory signals are mediated through GABA which is co-released from the DA cells along with dopamine.