OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the evidence base for the efficacy of light therapy in treating mood disorders. METHOD The authors systematically searched PubMed (January 1975 to July 2003) to identify randomized, controlled trials of light therapy for mood disorders that fulfilled predefined criteria. These articles were abstracted, and data were synthesized by disease and ...

Living in isolation from time cues under relatively high and low light intensities for a total (on average) of 24 days, 18 subjects estimated the passage of time by "producing" short (10 to 120 seconds) and long (1h) intervals throughout the experiments. The 1h productions were independent of light intensity and highly positively correlated with the duration of wake times. The short-interval pr...

The only well documented effect of light exposure on endocrine function is the suppression of nocturnal melatonin. Bright light exposure has behavioral effects, including the alleviation of sleepiness during nocturnal sleep deprivation. The present study examines the effects of bright light on the profiles of hormones known to be affected by sleep deprivation (TSH) or involved in behavioral act...

Let’s start off by setting the scene for this book. A term is generally regarded as vague if it admits borderline cases, that is, cases where speakers are reluctant to say either that the term definitely applies or definitely does not apply. An example is the expression bright, say applied to lights. Although some lights are definitely bright, and others are definitely dim, there are in-between...

BACKGROUND Combining bright light exposure and physical exercise may be an effective way of relieving depressive symptoms. However, relatively little is known about individual factors predicting either a good response or treatment failure. We explored background variables possibly explaining the individual variation in treatment response or failure in a randomised trial. METHODS Participants ...

PURPOSE Dietary deficiency in the retinoid precursors of the visual pigment chromophore 11-cis retinal eventually results in selective degeneration of the photoreceptor cells of the vertebrate retina. An early effect of retinoid deficiency is depletion of chromophore from the photoreceptor outer segments. Experiments were conducted to determine whether the rate of chromophore depletion was affe...

PURPOSE Previous studies have shown that albino rats born and raised in bright cyclic light are protected from light-induced apoptosis. The present study was designed to determine if bright cyclic rearing provides protection against retinal degeneration caused by acute light exposure in albino mice. METHODS BALB/c mice were born in dim cyclic light (5 lux, 12 h ON/OFF). At 1 week of age, half...

Light adaptation is crucial for coping with the varying levels of ambient light. Using high-density electroencephalography (EEG), we investigated how adaptation to light of different colors affects brain responsiveness. In a within-subject design, sixteen young participants were adapted first to dim white light and then to blue, green, red, or white bright light (one color per session in a rand...