Biomaterial Database

Efficacy of bright light and sleep/darkness scheduling in alleviating circadian maladaptation to night work. 2001

T S Horowitz, and B E Cade, and J M Wolfe, and C A Czeisler

Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

We tested the hypothesis that circadian adaptation to night work is best achieved by combining bright light during the night shift and scheduled sleep in darkness. Fifty-four subjects participated in a shift work simulation of 4 day and 3 night shifts followed by a 38-h constant routine (CR). Subjects received 2,500 lux (Bright Light) or 150 lux (Room Light) during night shifts and were scheduled to sleep (at home in darkened bedrooms) from 0800 to 1600 (Fixed Sleep) or ad libitum (Free Sleep). Dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) was measured before and after the night shifts. Both Fixed Sleep and Bright Light conditions significantly phase delayed DLMO. Treatments combined additively, with light leading to larger phase shifts. Free Sleep subjects who spontaneously adopted consistent sleep schedules adapted better than those who did not. Neither properly timed bright light nor fixed sleep schedules were consistently sufficient to shift the melatonin rhythm completely into the sleep episode. Scheduling of sleep/darkness should play a major role in prescriptions for overcoming shift work-related phase misalignment.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008027	Light	That portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared range.	Light, Visible,Photoradiation,Radiation, Visible,Visible Radiation,Photoradiations,Radiations, Visible,Visible Light,Visible Radiations
D008297	Male		Males
D008550	Melatonin	A biogenic amine that is found in animals and plants. In mammals, melatonin is produced by the PINEAL GLAND. Its secretion increases in darkness and decreases during exposure to light. Melatonin is implicated in the regulation of SLEEP, mood, and REPRODUCTION. Melatonin is also an effective antioxidant.
D002940	Circadian Rhythm	The regular recurrence, in cycles of about 24 hours, of biological processes or activities, such as sensitivity to drugs or environmental and physiological stimuli.	Diurnal Rhythm,Nyctohemeral Rhythm,Twenty-Four Hour Rhythm,Nycthemeral Rhythm,Circadian Rhythms,Diurnal Rhythms,Nycthemeral Rhythms,Nyctohemeral Rhythms,Rhythm, Circadian,Rhythm, Diurnal,Rhythm, Nycthemeral,Rhythm, Nyctohemeral,Rhythm, Twenty-Four Hour,Rhythms, Circadian,Rhythms, Diurnal,Rhythms, Nycthemeral,Rhythms, Nyctohemeral,Rhythms, Twenty-Four Hour,Twenty Four Hour Rhythm,Twenty-Four Hour Rhythms
D003624	Darkness	The absence of light.	Darknesses
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000222	Adaptation, Physiological	The non-genetic biological changes of an organism in response to challenges in its ENVIRONMENT.	Adaptation, Physiologic,Adaptations, Physiologic,Adaptations, Physiological,Adaptive Plasticity,Phenotypic Plasticity,Physiological Adaptation,Physiologic Adaptation,Physiologic Adaptations,Physiological Adaptations,Plasticity, Adaptive,Plasticity, Phenotypic
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D000704	Analysis of Variance	A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.	ANOVA,Analysis, Variance,Variance Analysis,Analyses, Variance,Variance Analyses