A wireless eye-pressure sensor reveals the brain is running the eye's clock

Christopher Passaglia's lab at the University of South Florida built the first wireless system that measures eye pressure continuously in rats — and found a full 24-hour rhythm driven by nerve signals travelling from the brain. Pressure climbs at night to levels that would cause glaucoma if sustained, yet the animals don't develop the disease. Under constant light, the rhythm vanished and average pressure rose — light matters far more than anyone expected. Three peer-reviewed papers in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science give researchers the first detailed map of how the brain governs eye pressure, and could eventually reshape how glaucoma is understood and treated.