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Atkinson, G., & Davenne, D. (2007). Relationships between sleep, physical activity and human health. Physiol Behav, 90(2-3), 229–235.
Abstract: Although sleep and exercise may seem to be mediated by completely different physiological mechanisms, there is growing evidence for clinically important relationships between these two behaviors. It is known that passive body heating facilitates the nocturnal sleep of healthy elderly people with insomnia. This finding supports the hypothesis that changes in body temperature trigger somnogenic brain areas to initiate sleep. Nevertheless, little is known about how the core and distal thermoregulatory responses to exercise fit into this hypothesis. Such knowledge could also help in reducing sleep problems associated with nocturnal shiftwork. It is difficult to incorporate physical activity into a shiftworker's lifestyle, since it is already disrupted in terms of family commitments and eating habits. A multi-research strategy is needed to identify what the optimal amounts and timing of physical activity are for reducing shiftwork-related sleep problems. The relationships between sleep, exercise and diet are also important, given the recently reported associations between short sleep length and obesity. The cardiovascular safety of exercise timing should also be considered, since recent data suggest that the reactivity of blood pressure to a change in general physical activity is highest during the morning. This time is associated with an increased risk in general of a sudden cardiac event, but more research work is needed to separate the influences of light, posture and exercise per se on the haemodynamic responses to sleep and physical activity following sleep taken at night and during the day as a nap.
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Cajochen, C., Munch, M., Kobialka, S., Krauchi, K., Steiner, R., Oelhafen, P., et al. (2005). High sensitivity of human melatonin, alertness, thermoregulation, and heart rate to short wavelength light. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 90(3), 1311–1316.
Abstract: Light can elicit acute physiological and alerting responses in humans, the magnitude of which depends on the timing, intensity, and duration of light exposure. Here, we report that the alerting response of light as well as its effects on thermoregulation and heart rate are also wavelength dependent. Exposure to 2 h of monochromatic light at 460 nm in the late evening induced a significantly greater melatonin suppression than occurred with 550-nm monochromatic light, concomitant with a significantly greater alerting response and increased core body temperature and heart rate ( approximately 2.8 x 10(13) photons/cm(2)/sec for each light treatment). Light diminished the distal-proximal skin temperature gradient, a measure of the degree of vasoconstriction, independent of wavelength. Nonclassical ocular photoreceptors with peak sensitivity around 460 nm have been found to regulate circadian rhythm function as measured by melatonin suppression and phase shifting. Our findings-that the sensitivity of the human alerting response to light and its thermoregulatory sequelae are blue-shifted relative to the three-cone visual photopic system-indicate an additional role for these novel photoreceptors in modifying human alertness, thermophysiology, and heart rate.
Keywords: Human Health; Adult; Body Temperature Regulation/physiology/*radiation effects; Circadian Rhythm/physiology/radiation effects; Color; Heart Rate/physiology/*radiation effects; Humans; *Light; Male; Melatonin/*metabolism; Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells/physiology; Sleep Stages/physiology/radiation effects; Wakefulness/physiology/*radiation effects
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Chang, A. - M., Scheer, F. A. J. L., Czeisler, C. A., & Aeschbach, D. (2013). Direct effects of light on alertness, vigilance, and the waking electroencephalogram in humans depend on prior light history. Sleep, 36(8), 1239–1246.
Abstract: STUDY OBJECTIVES: Light can induce an acute alerting response in humans; however, it is unknown whether the magnitude of this response is simply a function of the absolute illuminance of the light itself, or whether it depends on illuminance history preceding the stimulus. Here, we compared the effects of illuminance history on the alerting response to a subsequent light stimulus. DESIGN: A randomized, crossover design was used to compare the effect of two illuminance histories (1 lux vs. 90 lux) on the alerting response to a 6.5-h 90-lux light stimulus during the biological night. SETTING: Intensive Physiologic Monitoring Unit, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen healthy young adults (6 F; 23.5 +/- 2.9 years). INTERVENTIONS: Participants were administered two 6.5-h light exposures (LE) of 90 lux during the biological night. For 3 days prior to each LE, participants were exposed to either 1 lux or 90 lux during the wake episode. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The alerting response to light was assessed using subjective sleepiness ratings, lapses of attention, and reaction times as measured with an auditory psychomotor vigilance task, as well as power density in the delta/theta range of the waking EEG. The alerting response to light was greater and lasted longer when the LE followed exposure to 1 lux compared to 90 lux light. CONCLUSION: The magnitude and duration of the alerting effect of light at night depends on the illuminance history and appears to be subject to sensitization and adaptation.
Keywords: Arousal/*radiation effects; Attention/radiation effects; Cross-Over Studies; *Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; *Light; Male; Melatonin/blood/physiology; Psychomotor Performance/radiation effects; Reaction Time; Wakefulness/*radiation effects; Young Adult; Light history; alertness and performance; light exposure
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Chellappa, S. L., Viola, A. U., Schmidt, C., Bachmann, V., Gabel, V., Maire, M., et al. (2012). Human melatonin and alerting response to blue-enriched light depend on a polymorphism in the clock gene PER3. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 97(3), E433–7.
Abstract: CONTEXT: Light exposure, particularly at the short-wavelength range, triggers several nonvisual responses in humans. However, the extent to which the melatonin-suppressing and alerting effect of light differs among individuals remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: Here we investigated whether blue-enriched polychromatic light impacts differentially on melatonin and subjective and objective alertness in healthy participants genotyped for the PERIOD3 (PER3) variable-number, tandem-repeat polymorphism. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen healthy young men homozygous for the PER3 polymorphism (PER3(5/5)and PER3(4/4)) underwent a balanced crossover design during the winter season, with light exposure to compact fluorescent lamps of 40 lux at 6500 K and at 2500 K during 2 h in the evening. RESULTS: In comparison to light at 2500 K, blue-enriched light at 6500 K induced a significant suppression of the evening rise in endogenous melatonin levels in PER3(5/5) individuals but not in PER3(4/4). Likewise, PER3(5/5) individuals exhibited a more pronounced alerting response to light at 6500 K than PER3(4/4) volunteers. Waking electroencephalographic activity in the theta range (5-7 Hz), a putative correlate of sleepiness, was drastically attenuated during light exposure at 6500 K in PER3(5/5) individuals as compared with PER3(4/4). CONCLUSIONS: We provide first evidence that humans homozygous for the PER3 5/5 allele are particularly sensitive to blue-enriched light, as indexed by the suppression of endogenous melatonin and waking theta activity. Light sensitivity in humans may be modulated by a clock gene polymorphism implicated in the sleep-wake regulation.
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Dumont, M., & Beaulieu, C. (2007). Light exposure in the natural environment: relevance to mood and sleep disorders. Sleep Med, 8(6), 557–565.
Abstract: In addition to being necessary for vision, light also plays a primary role in circadian physiology. Humans are diurnal animals and their biological clock synchronizes their physiological functions in such a way that functions associated with activity happen in the daytime while functions associated with rest occur at night. A misalignment between the endogenous circadian clock and the desired sleep schedule is the main cause of circadian sleep disorders; it may be involved in certain mood disorders as well. Since light is the main environmental cue used by the biological clock to set its own timing in relation to the day-night cycle, inappropriate light exposure can be involved in the physiopathology of circadian disorders. Conversely, when handled properly, controlled light exposure can be used to treat some mood and sleep disorders. While the earliest studies in the field focused solely on exposure to bright light, contemporary studies aim at understanding how the entire profile of light-dark exposure can influence the circadian clock and, consequently, mood, sleep, and vigilance quality. Following a brief summary of the main concepts underlying the non-visual effects of light, this paper presents some studies using ambulatory measurements of light exposure to illustrate how these concepts apply in real-life situations and discusses the clinical relevance of light exposure in the natural environment for mood, sleep, and circadian disorders.
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