Circadian phase resetting by a single short-duration light exposure
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND. In humans, a single light exposure of 12 minutes and multiple-millisecond light exposures can shift the phase of the circadian pacemaker. We investigated the response of the human circadian pacemaker to a single 15-second or 2-minute light pulse administered during the biological night. METHODS. Twenty-six healthy individuals participated in a 9-day inpatient protocol that included assessment of dim light melatonin onset time (DLMO time) before and after exposure to a single 15-second ( n = 8) or 2-minute ( n = 12) pulse of bright light (9,500 lux; 4,100 K fluorescent) or control background dim light (<3 lux; n = 6). Phase shifts were calculated as the difference in clock time between the two phase estimates. RESULTS. Both 15-second and 2-minute exposures induced phase delay shifts [median (± SD)] of –34.8 ± 47.2 minutes and –45.4 ± 28.4 minutes, respectively, that were significantly ( P = 0.04) greater than the control condition (advance shift: +22.3 ± 51.3 minutes) but were not significantly different from each other. Comparisons with historic data collected under the same conditions confirmed a nonlinear relationship between exposure duration and the magnitude of phase shift. CONCLUSIONS. Our results underscore the exquisite sensitivity of the human pacemaker to even short-duration single exposures to light. These findings may have real-world implications for circadian disruption induced by exposure to brief light stimuli at night. TRIAL REGISTRATION. The study was registered as a clinical trial on www.clinicaltrials.org, NCT #01330992. FUNDING. Funding for this study was provided by NSBRI HFP02802 and NIH P01-AG09975, R01-HL114088 (EBK), RC2-HL101340-0 (EBK, SWL, SAR, REK), K02-HD045459 (EBK), K24-HL105664 (EBK), T32-HL07901 (MSH, SAR), HL094654 (CAC), and AG044416 (JFD). The project described was supported by NIH grant 1UL1 TR001102-01, 8UL1TR000170-05, UL1 RR 025758, Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center, from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science.
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A brief exposure (<12 minutes) to very bright light (∼10,000 lux) can induce modification of the melatonin concentration more efficiently per minute of light exposure than longer durations.
“A brief exposure (<12 minutes) to very bright light (∼10,000 lux) can induce modification of the melatonin concentration more efficiently per minute of light exposure than longer durations [57,62].”
From Human thermal perception and time of day: A review (2021) · cites this paper as [62]
The effect of the duration of light exposure on circadian phase resetting is non-linear and asymptotic for durations above ∼4 h.
“The effect of the duration of the light exposure on circadian phase resetting has been shown to be non-linear and asymptotic for durations above ∼4 h.”
From Human thermal perception and time of day: A review (2021) · cites this paper as [62]
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Circadian rhythms in ischemic stroke: From pathogenesis to chronotherapy
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“Controlling the key characteristics of light exposure, including the timing [11], intensity [12], duration [13] and spectrum [11] facilitates synchronization of the endogenous circadian pacemaker (Figure 1) to shifted sleep–wake and work schedules through robust phase resetting of the circadian…”
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Optimizing Light Flash Sequence Duration to Shift Human Circadian Phase
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Challenges and Perspectives of Novel Methods for Light Stimulation in Visual Rehabilitation
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- Authors
- Rahman, S. A., St. Hilaire, M. A., Chang, A.-M., Santhi, N., Duffy, J. F., Kronauer, R. E., Czeisler, C. A., Lockley, S. W., & Klerman, E. B.
- Affiliations
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- Harvard University (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- JCI Insight
- Published
- 2017-04-06
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- e89494-e89494
- ISSN
- 2379-3708 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5374060
- OpenAlex
- W2604233709
- Cited by
- 61
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 3.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- JCI Insight (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Surrey Research Insight Open Access (The University of Surrey) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Harvard Catalyst (UL1-RR025758, TR001102-01, 8 UL1 TR000170-05, TR001102, 8UL1TR000170)
- National Space Biomedical Research Institute (HFP-02802)
- National Institutes of Health (5rc2hl101340-02, UL1TR000170, UL1TR001102, 1UL1TR0011-02)
- National Institute on Aging (P01AG009975)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (RC2- HL101340, K24HL105664, R01HL094654, R01HL114088, T32HL007901)
- National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR025758, M01RR002635)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K02HD045459)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Impact of Light on Environment and Health
- Keywords
- circadian pacemaker, phase lag, dim light melatonin onset, exposure duration, circadian rhythm disruption, light at night, bright light
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Physiological, Adult, Circadian Rhythm, Female, Humans, Light, Male, Melatonin, Sleep, Time Factors, Young Adult, Healthy Volunteers
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