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Figueiro, M. G., Bierman, A., Plitnick, B., & Rea, M. S. (2009). Preliminary evidence that both blue and red light can induce alertness at night. BMC Neurosci, 10, 105.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: A variety of studies have demonstrated that retinal light exposure can increase alertness at night. It is now well accepted that the circadian system is maximally sensitive to short-wavelength (blue) light and is quite insensitive to long-wavelength (red) light. Retinal exposures to blue light at night have been recently shown to impact alertness, implicating participation by the circadian system. The present experiment was conducted to look at the impact of both blue and red light at two different levels on nocturnal alertness. Visually effective but moderate levels of red light are ineffective for stimulating the circadian system. If it were shown that a moderate level of red light impacts alertness, it would have had to occur via a pathway other than through the circadian system. METHODS: Fourteen subjects participated in a within-subject two-night study, where each participant was exposed to four experimental lighting conditions. Each night each subject was presented a high (40 lx at the cornea) and a low (10 lx at the cornea) diffuse light exposure condition of the same spectrum (blue, lambda(max) = 470 nm, or red, lambda(max) = 630 nm). The presentation order of the light levels was counterbalanced across sessions for a given subject; light spectra were counterbalanced across subjects within sessions. Prior to each lighting condition, subjects remained in the dark (< 1 lx at the cornea) for 60 minutes. Electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements, electrocardiogram (ECG), psychomotor vigilance tests (PVT), self-reports of sleepiness, and saliva samples for melatonin assays were collected at the end of each dark and light periods. RESULTS: Exposures to red and to blue light resulted in increased beta and reduced alpha power relative to preceding dark conditions. Exposures to high, but not low, levels of red and of blue light significantly increased heart rate relative to the dark condition. Performance and sleepiness ratings were not strongly affected by the lighting conditions. Only the higher level of blue light resulted in a reduction in melatonin levels relative to the other lighting conditions. CONCLUSION: These results support previous findings that alertness may be mediated by the circadian system, but it does not seem to be the only light-sensitive pathway that can affect alertness at night.
Keywords: Adult; Alpha Rhythm; Analysis of Variance; Beta Rhythm; Circadian Rhythm/*physiology; Cornea/physiology; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; Electrocardiography; Female; Humans; *Light; Male; Melatonin/secretion; Middle Aged; *Photic Stimulation; Psychomotor Performance; Radioimmunoassay; Salivary Glands/secretion; Wakefulness/*physiology; physiology of vision; blue light; red light
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Taillard, J., Capelli, A., Sagaspe, P., Anund, A., Akerstedt, T., & Philip, P. (2012). In-car nocturnal blue light exposure improves motorway driving: a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One, 7(10), e46750.
Abstract: Prolonged wakefulness greatly decreases nocturnal driving performance. The development of in-car countermeasures is a future challenge to prevent sleep-related accidents. The aim of this study is to determine whether continuous exposure to monochromatic light in the short wavelengths (blue light), placed on the dashboard, improves night-time driving performance. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study, 48 healthy male participants (aged 20-50 years) drove 400 km (250 miles) on motorway during night-time. They randomly and consecutively received either continuous blue light exposure (GOLite, Philips, 468 nm) during driving or 2*200 mg of caffeine or placebo of caffeine before and during the break. Treatments were separated by at least 1 week. The outcomes were number of inappropriate line crossings (ILC) and mean standard deviation of the lateral position (SDLP). Eight participants (17%) complained about dazzle during blue light exposure and were removed from the analysis. Results from the 40 remaining participants (mean age +/- SD: 32.9+/-11.1) showed that countermeasures reduced the number of inappropriate line crossings (ILC) (F(2,91.11) = 6.64; p<0.05). Indeed, ILC were lower with coffee (12.51 [95% CI, 5.86 to 19.66], p = 0.001) and blue light (14.58 [CI, 8.75 to 22.58], p = 0.003) than with placebo (26.42 [CI, 19.90 to 33.71]). Similar results were found for SDLP. Treatments did not modify the quality, quantity and timing of 3 subsequent nocturnal sleep episodes. Despite a lesser tolerance, a non-inferior efficacy of continuous nocturnal blue light exposure compared with caffeine suggests that this in-car countermeasure, used occasionally, could be used to fight nocturnal sleepiness at the wheel in blue light-tolerant drivers, whatever their age. More studies are needed to determine the reproducibility of data and to verify if it can be generalized to women. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01070004.
Keywords: Adult; *Automobile Driving; Caffeine/pharmacology; Coffee/chemistry; Cross-Over Studies; Double-Blind Method; Fatigue/*prevention & control; Humans; Light; Male; Middle Aged; *Photic Stimulation; Placebos; Psychomotor Performance/drug effects/radiation effects; Reproducibility of Results; Sleep Deprivation; Sleep Stages/radiation effects; Wakefulness/drug effects/physiology/*radiation effects; blue light
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Vollmer, C., Michel, U., & Randler, C. (2012). Outdoor light at night (LAN) is correlated with eveningness in adolescents. Chronobiol Int, 29(4), 502–508.
Abstract: External zeitgebers synchronize the human circadian rhythm of sleep and wakefulness. Humans adapt their chronotype to the day-night cycle, the strongest external zeitgeber. The human circadian rhythm shifts to evening-type orientation when daylight is prolonged into the evening and night hours by artificial light sources. Data from a survey of 1507 German adolescents covering questions about chronotype and electronic screen media use combined with nocturnal satellite image data suggest a relationship between chronotype and artificial nocturnal light. Adolescents living in brightly illuminated urban districts had a stronger evening-type orientation than adolescents living in darker and more rural municipalities. This result persisted when controlling for time use of electronic screen media, intake of stimulants, type of school, age, puberty status, time of sunrise, sex, and population density. Time spent on electronic screen media use-a source of indoor light at night-is also correlated with eveningness, as well as intake of stimulants, age, and puberty status, and, to a lesser degree, type of school and time of sunrise. Adequate urban development design and parents limiting adolescents' electronic screen media use in the evening could help to adjust adolescents' zeitgeber to early school schedules when they provide appropriate lighting conditions for daytime and for nighttime.
Keywords: Adolescent; *Adolescent Behavior/drug effects; Biological Clocks; Central Nervous System Stimulants/administration & dosage; *Circadian Rhythm/drug effects; Computers; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Germany; Humans; *Light; Lighting; Male; *Photic Stimulation; *Photoperiod; Questionnaires; *Sleep/drug effects; Television; Time Factors; Video Games; *Wakefulness/drug effects
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