Supplemental ambient lighting intervention to improve sleep in Parkinson's disease: A pilot trial.

Importance: Sleep disturbances in Parkinson's disease (PD) are common and often adversely affect quality of life. Light therapy has benefited sleep quality and mood outcomes in various populations but results to date with conventional light therapy boxes in PD patients have been mixed. We hypothesized that a passive lighting intervention, applied in the morning and designed to maximally affect the circadian system, would improve measures of sleep and mood in PD patients.

Feasibility of a Novel Lighting System to Reduce Nighttime Falls in Assisted Living Residents With Dementia.

Objectives: To determine the feasibility of conducting a trial of a novel nighttime lighting system designed to support postural stability in assisted living (AL) residents, and to estimate intervention effectiveness by comparing the incidence of nighttime falls during the novel lighting condition to that in a control condition featuring a standard nightlight.

Design: Randomized crossover trial. The intervention consisted of 3 custom-designed linear arrays of amber light-emitting diodes (LEDs) arranged in strips: 1 strip aligned horizontally across the top of the bathroom/entry doorframe containing 68 LEDs and 2 strips of 140 LEDs each aligned vertically down the sides of the doorframe.

Associations between circadian alignment and cognitive functioning in a nationally representative sample of older adults.

Proper alignment of activity-rest and light-dark patterns allows for healthy bodily functions to occur at optimal times of the day. Disruptions to this alignment may cause poor sleep as well as physical, mental, and cognitive problems. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine if poorer circadian alignment was associated with decreased cognitive functioning among older (> 60 years) participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Corrigendum: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction: spotlight on light, circadian rhythms, and sleep.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction: spotlight on light, circadian rhythms, and sleep.

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a neurological disorder characterized by the emergence of cognitive impairment after surgery. A growing body of literature suggests that the onset of POCD is closely tied to circadian rhythm disruption (CRD). Circadian rhythms are patterns of behavioral and physiological change that repeat themselves at approximately, but not exactly, every 24 h.

Link between circadian rhythm and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)/lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

Background: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common urologic disease in aging males, affecting 50% of men over 50 and up to 80% of men over 80 years old. Its negative impact on health-related quality of life implores further investigation into its risk factors and strategies for effective management. Although the exact molecular mechanisms underlying pathophysiological onset of BPH are poorly defined, the current hypothesized contributors to BPH and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) include aging, inflammation, metabolic syndrome, and hormonal changes.

Tailored lighting intervention (TLI) for improving sleep-wake cycles in older adults living with dementia.

Sleep disturbance is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and caregiver stress caused by patients' nighttime wandering, injuries, and agitation are frequently at the root of decisions to move them to assisted living facilities, where typically dim institutional lighting can further exacerbate their sleep problems. This study explored the effects of a circadian-effective lighting intervention on actigraphic sleep measures and subjective assessments of sleep disturbance, depression, and sleep-disturbed behaviors. Fourteen older adult (≥60 years) participants (11 females, mean age = 84.

County-level artificial light at night (ALAN) in the contiguous US (2012-2019): spatial variations, temporal trends, and environmental justice analyses.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a growing environmental hazard with economic, ecological, and public health implications. Previous studies suggested a higher burden of light pollution and related adverse effects in disadvantaged communities. It is critical to characterize the geographic distribution and temporal trend of ALAN and identify associated demographic and socioeconomic factors at the population level to lay the foundation for environmental and public health monitoring and policy-making.

Alignment Between 24-h Light-Dark and Activity-Rest Rhythms Is Associated With Diabetes and Glucose Metabolism in a Nationally Representative Sample of American Adults.

Objective: The alignment between environmental stimuli (e.g., dark, light) and behavior cycles (e.

Cardiovascular disease and lifestyle choices: Spotlight on circadian rhythms and sleep.

The advent of electric lighting in the built environment has radically transformed the human experience of light and darkness, which is often insufficient to stimulate and synchronize the circadian system to the day-night cycle. The lack of circadian system entrainment leads to poor sleep and could be an important biophysical mechanism underlying increased incidence of certain types of diseases, including cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD). This contribution proposes to carve out a niche for including daily exposures to light and darkness among lifestyle factors for reducing the risk and progression of CVD.

Evaluation of a Novel Ambient Light Survey Question in the Cancer Prevention Study-3.

Nighttime light exposure may increase cancer risk by disrupting the circadian system. However, there is no well-established survey method for measuring ambient light. In the Cancer Prevention Study-3, 732 men and women answered a light survey based on seven environments.

Circadian Rhythm Disruption as a Contributor to Racial Disparities in Prostate Cancer.

In the United States, African American (AA) men have a 2.4 times higher mortality rate due to prostate cancer than White men. The multifactorial causes of the racial disparities in prostate cancer involve various social determinants of health, socioeconomic status, and access to healthcare.

The circadian stimulus-oscillator model: Improvements to Kronauer's model of the human circadian pacemaker.

Modeling how patterns of light and dark affect circadian phase is important clinically and organizationally (e.g., the military) because circadian disruption can compromise health and performance.

Associations of 24-Hour Light Exposure and Activity Patterns and Risk of Cognitive Impairment and Decline in Older Men: The MrOS Sleep Study.

Background: Older men with the worse alignment of activity and light may have lower levels of cognition and increased rates of cognitive decline.

Methods: This cohort consisted of 1 036 older men (81.1 ± 4.

Impact of Circadian Rhythms on the Development and Clinical Management of Genitourinary Cancers.

The circadian system is an innate clock mechanism that governs biological processes on a near 24-hour cycle. Circadian rhythm disruption (i.e.

Corrigendum: Modeling Circadian Phototransduction: Quantitative Predictions of Psychophysical Data.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.

Access to Daylight at Home Improves Circadian Alignment, Sleep, and Mental Health in Healthy Adults: A Crossover Study.

As the primary environmental cue for the body's master biological clock, light-dark patterns are key for circadian alignment and are ultimately fundamental to multiple dimensions of health including sleep and mental health. Although daylight provides the proper qualities of light for promoting circadian alignment, our modern indoor lifestyles offer fewer opportunities for adequate daylight exposure. This field study explores how increasing circadian-effective light in residences affects circadian phase, sleep, vitality, and mental health.

Circadian rhythm disruption with high-fat diet impairs glycemic control and bone quality.

Biological functions, including glycemic control and bone metabolism, are highly influenced by the body's internal clock. Circadian rhythms are biological rhythms that run with a period close to 24 hours and receive input from environmental stimuli, such as the light/dark cycle. We investigated the effects of circadian rhythm disruption (CRD), through alteration of the light/dark schedule, on glycemic control and bone quality of mice.

Lighting and Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: Spotlight on Sleep and Depression.

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias is the collective term for a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which there is presently no cure. This paper focuses on two symptoms of the disease, sleep disturbances and depression, and discusses how light can be used as a non-pharmacological intervention to mitigate their negative effects. Bright days and dark nights are needed for health and well-being, but the present components of the built environment, especially those places where older adults spend most of their days, are too dimly illuminated during the day and too bright at night.

Spatial sensitivity of human circadian response: Melatonin suppression from on-axis and off-axis light exposures.

A better understanding of the spatial sensitivity of the human circadian system to photic stimulation can provide practical solutions for optimized circadian light exposures. Two psychophysical experiments, involving 25 adult participants in Experiment 1 (mean age = 34.0 years [SD 15.

Relative light sensitivities of four retinal hemi-fields for suppressing the synthesis of melatonin at night.

The magnitude of the stimulus to the biological clock will depend upon the distribution of circadian phototransduction circuits across the retinae and the spatial distribution of luminous stimuli in the environment. The present study compared nocturnal melatonin suppression for light exposures to the superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal retina in one eye independent of shading from the brow and the nose. The stimulus was a 40° diameter luminous disc, half of which was blue light (LED, λ = 470 nm) and the other amber light (LED, λ = 590 nm).

Intermittent Light Exposures in Humans: A Case for Dual Entrainment in the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.

Circadian sleep disorders are common among American adults and can become especially acute among older adults, especially those living with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), leading to the exacerbation of symptoms and contributing to the development and advancement of the diseases. This review explores the connections between circadian sleep disorders, cognition, and neurodegenerative disease, offering insights on rapidly developing therapeutic interventions employing intermittent light stimuli for improving sleep and cognition in persons with AD and MCI. Light therapy has the potential to affect sleep and cognition via at least two pathways: (1) a regular and robust light-dark pattern reaching the retina that promotes circadian phase shifting, which can promote entrainment and (2) 40 Hz flickering light that promotes gamma-wave entrainment.

Modeling Circadian Phototransduction: Quantitative Predictions of Psychophysical Data.

A revised computational model of circadian phototransduction is presented. The first step was to characterize the spectral sensitivity of the retinal circuit using suppression of the synthesis of melatonin by the pineal gland at night as the outcome measure. From the spectral sensitivity, circadian light was defined.

Modeling Circadian Phototransduction: Retinal Neurophysiology and Neuroanatomy.

The retina is a complex, but well-organized neural structure that converts optical radiation into neural signals that convey photic information to a wide variety of brain structures. The present paper is concerned with the neural circuits underlying phototransduction for the central pacemaker of the human circadian system. The proposed neural framework adheres to orthodox retinal neuroanatomy and neurophysiology.