Exposure to room light before bedtime suppresses melatonin onset and shortens melatonin duration in humans.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Millions of individuals habitually expose themselves to room light in the hours before bedtime, yet the effects of this behavior on melatonin signaling are not well recognized.

Objective

We tested the hypothesis that exposure to room light in the late evening suppresses the onset of melatonin synthesis and shortens the duration of melatonin production.

Design

In a retrospective analysis, we compared daily melatonin profiles in individuals living in room light (<200 lux) vs. dim light (<3 lux).

Patients

Healthy volunteers (n = 116, 18-30 yr) were recruited from the general population to participate in one of two studies.

Setting

Participants lived in a General Clinical Research Center for at least five consecutive days.

Intervention

Individ

SUBMITTER: Gooley JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3047226 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature