Recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults

Brown, T. M.; Brainard, George C.; Cajochen, Christian; Czeisler, Charles A.; Hanifin, John P.; Lockley, Steven W.; Lucas, Robert J.; Münch, Mirjam; O’Hagan, John; Peirson, Stuart N.; Price, Luke; Roenneberg, Till; Schlangen, Luc J. M.; Skene, Debra J.; Spitschan, Manuel; Vetter, Céline; Zee, Phyllis C.; Wright, Kenneth P.

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001571

Cited by 262 publications

(212 citation statements)

References 136 publications

(204 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

203

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Moreover, there may be an association between environmental toxins such as heavy metals (e.g., arsenic) and sleep disturbance [ 82 , 83 ]. Sleep hygiene, such as room temperature, adequate darkness, noise, and comfort of bed and pillows, would be simple actions to ensure a healthy environment [ 84 , 85 ]. Further to the sleeping room, engaging in healthy lifestyle practices such as refraining from stimulants, eating or being on devices too close to bedtime, and unwinding from the day’s stresses with relaxation practices such as a warm bath or physical activity, need consideration [ 86 , 87 ].…”

Section: Clinical Usesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Melatonin the “Next Vitamin D”?: A Review of Emerging Science, Clinical Uses, Safety, and Dietary Supplements

Minich

Henning²,

Darley

et al. 2022

Nutrients

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Melatonin has become a popular dietary supplement, most known as a chronobiotic, and for establishing healthy sleep. Research over the last decade into cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, fertility, PCOS, and many other conditions, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to greater awareness of melatonin because of its ability to act as a potent antioxidant, immune-active agent, and mitochondrial regulator. There are distinct similarities between melatonin and vitamin D in the depth and breadth of their impact on health. Both act as hormones, affect multiple systems through their immune-modulating, anti-inflammatory functions, are found in the skin, and are responsive to sunlight and darkness. In fact, there may be similarities between the widespread concern about vitamin D deficiency as a “sunlight deficiency” and reduced melatonin secretion as a result of “darkness deficiency” from overexposure to artificial blue light. The trend toward greater use of melatonin supplements has resulted in concern about its safety, especially higher doses, long-term use, and application in certain populations (e.g., children). This review aims to evaluate the recent data on melatonin’s mechanisms, its clinical uses beyond sleep, safety concerns, and a thorough summary of therapeutic considerations concerning dietary supplementation, including the different formats available (animal, synthetic, and phytomelatonin), dosing, timing, contraindications, and nutrient combinations.

show abstract

Section: Clinical Usesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Melatonin the “Next Vitamin D”?: A Review of Emerging Science, Clinical Uses, Safety, and Dietary Supplements

Minich

Henning²,

Darley

et al. 2022

Nutrients

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…88 Overall, our results suggest that DLSs facilitate circadian adaptation to delay shifts in sleep/wake and work-rest schedules, and would be a more appropriate operational approach. Although the precise timing will depend on the shift schedule employed, we would reiterate the recommendation of a recent expert review, 93 with a minimum of 250 melanopic EDI lux at the eye while awake (including at work) and, once at home, <10 melanopic EDI lux for the 3 h before bed, or as long as possible before sleep after arriving home after an evening or night shift, if <3 h. There does not appear to be a difference between gradual and abrupt shifts when advancing sleep-wake schedules. Whether delay schedules are differentially affected by gradual or abrupt shifts cannot be determined from our study and should be the focus of future studies, along with further refinement of individual circadian timing, light intensity and light duration to achieve full responses in all individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Dynamic lighting schedules to facilitate circadian adaptation to shifted timing of sleep and wake

Rahman

Hilaire

Grant

et al. 2022

Journal of Pineal Research

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Circadian adaptation to shifted sleep/wake schedules may be facilitated by optimizing the timing, intensity and spectral characteristics of light exposure, which is the principal time cue for mammalian circadian pacemaker, and possibly by strategically timing nonphotic time cues such as exercise. Therefore, circadian phase resetting by light and exercise was assessed in 44 healthy participants (22 females, mean age [±SD] 36.2 ± 9.2 years), who completed 8‐day inpatient experiments simulating night shiftwork, which included either an 8 h advance or 8 h delay in sleep/wake schedules. In the advance protocol (n = 18), schedules were shifted either gradually (1.6 h/day across 5 days) or abruptly (slam shift, 8 h in 1 day and maintained across 5 days). Both advance protocols included a dynamic lighting schedule (DLS) with 6.5 h exposure of blue‐enriched white light (704 melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance [melEDI] lux) during the day and dimmer blue‐depleted light (26 melEDI lux) for 2 h immediately before sleep on the shifted schedule. In the delay protocol (n = 26), schedules were only abruptly delayed but included four different lighting conditions: (1) 8 h continuous room‐light control; (2) 8 h continuous blue‐enriched light; (3) intermittent (7 × 15 min pulses/8 h) blue‐enriched light; (4) 8 h continuous blue‐enriched light plus moderate intensity exercise. In the room‐light control, participants received dimmer white light for 30 min before bedtime, whereas in the other three delay protocols participants received dimmer blue‐depleted light for 30 min before bedtime. Both the slam and gradual advance protocols induced similar shifts in circadian phase (3.28 h ± 0.37 vs. 2.88 h ± 0.31, respectively, p = .43) estimated by the change in the timing of timing of dim light melatonin onset. In the delay protocol, the continuous 8 h blue‐enriched exposure induced significantly larger shifts than the room light control (−6.59 h ± 0.43 vs. −4.74 h ± 0.62, respectively, p = .02). The intermittent exposure induced ~60% of the shift (−3.90 h ± 0.62) compared with 8 h blue‐enriched continuous light with only 25% of the exposure duration. The addition of exercise to the 8 h continuous blue‐enriched light did not result in significantly larger phase shifts (−6.59 h ± 0.43 vs. −6.41 h ± 0.69, p = .80). Collectively, our results demonstrate that, when attempting to adapt to an 8 h overnight work shift, delay shifts are more successful, particularly when accompanied by a DLS with high‐melanopic irradiance light stimulus during wake.

show abstract

“…Therefore, reducing exposure to artificial light at night might help improve sleep quality in the pregnant population and lead to optimal levels of melatonin, which is crucial for improved maternal and foetal outcomes. It is recommended that the sleep environment be as dark as possible, with a maximum average illuminance value of 1 lux [ 58 ]. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that artificial light exposure at night could be the result of poor sleep instead.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nocturnal Lifestyle Behaviours and Risk of Poor Sleep during Pregnancy

Loo

Tiong

et al. 2022

Nutrients

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The extent to which lifestyle practices at night influence sleep quality in pregnant women remains unknown. This study aimed to examine whether nocturnal behaviours were associated with poor sleep during pregnancy. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of a prospective cohort of pregnant women at 18–24 gestation weeks recruited from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore, between 2019 and 2021. Nocturnal behaviours were assessed with questionnaires, and sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) with a global score ≥5 indicative of poor sleep quality. Modified Poisson regression and linear regression were used to examine the association between nocturnal behaviour and sleep quality. Of 299 women, 117 (39.1%) experienced poor sleep. In the covariate-adjusted analysis, poor sleep was observed in women with nocturnal eating (risk ratio 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12, 2.04) and nocturnal artificial light exposure (1.63; 1.24, 2.13). Similarly, nocturnal eating (β 0.68; 95% CI 0.03, 1.32) and light exposure (1.99; 1.04, 2.94) were associated with higher PSQI score. Nocturnal physical activity and screen viewing before bedtime were not associated with sleep quality. In conclusion, reducing nocturnal eating and light exposure at night could potentially improve sleep in pregnancy.

show abstract

Recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults

Cited by 262 publications

References 136 publications

Is Melatonin the “Next Vitamin D”?: A Review of Emerging Science, Clinical Uses, Safety, and Dietary Supplements

Is Melatonin the “Next Vitamin D”?: A Review of Emerging Science, Clinical Uses, Safety, and Dietary Supplements

Dynamic lighting schedules to facilitate circadian adaptation to shifted timing of sleep and wake

Nocturnal Lifestyle Behaviours and Risk of Poor Sleep during Pregnancy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About