Daytime light exposure dynamically enhances brain responses.

@article{citeulike:813733, abstract = {In humans, light enhances both alertness and performance during nighttime and daytime and influences regional brain function . These effects do not correspond to classical visual responses but involve a non-image forming (NIF) system, which elicits greater endocrine, physiological, neurophysiological, and behavioral responses to shorter light wavelengths than to wavelengths geared toward the visual system . During daytime, the neural changes induced by light exposure, and their time courses, are largely unknown. With functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we characterized the neural correlates of the alerting effect of daytime light by assessing the responses to an auditory oddball task , before and after a short exposure to a bright white light. Light-induced improvement in subjective alertness was linearly related to responses in the posterior thalamus. In addition, light enhanced responses in a set of cortical areas supporting attentional oddball effects, and it prevented decreases of activity otherwise observed during continuous darkness. Responses to light were remarkably dynamic. They declined within minutes after the end of the light stimulus, following various region-specific time courses. These findings suggest that light can modulate activity of subcortical structures involved in alertness, thereby dynamically promoting cortical activity in networks involved in ongoing nonvisual cognitive processes.}, address = {Cyclotron Research Center, University of Li\`{e}ge, Li\`{e}ge B-4000, Belgium.}, author = {Vandewalle, G. and Balteau, E. and Phillips, C. and Degueldre, C. and Moreau, V. and Sterpenich, V. and Albouy, G. and Darsaud, A. and Desseilles, M. and Dang-Vu, T. T. and Peigneux, P. and Luxen, A. and Dijk, D. J. and Maquet, P. }, citeulike-article-id = {813733}, comment = {A really interesting, novel, short-term, powerful consequence of light exposure.}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2006.06.031}, issn = {0960-9822}, journal = {Curr Biol}, keywords = {attention, auditory, fmri}, month = {August}, number = {16}, pages = {1616--1621}, posted-at = {2006-08-23 13:53:31}, priority = {3}, title = {Daytime light exposure dynamically enhances brain responses.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2006.06.031}, volume = {16}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:813733 L3 - citeulike-article-id:813733 TI - Daytime light exposure dynamically enhances brain responses. JF - Curr Biol VL - 16 IS - 16 SP - 1616 EP - 1621 AD - Cyclotron Research Center, University of Liège, Liège B-4000, Belgium. SN - 0960-9822 N2 - In humans, light enhances both alertness and performance during nighttime and daytime and influences regional brain function . These effects do not correspond to classical visual responses but involve a non-image forming (NIF) system, which elicits greater endocrine, physiological, neurophysiological, and behavioral responses to shorter light wavelengths than to wavelengths geared toward the visual system . During daytime, the neural changes induced by light exposure, and their time courses, are largely unknown. With functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we characterized the neural correlates of the alerting effect of daytime light by assessing the responses to an auditory oddball task , before and after a short exposure to a bright white light. Light-induced improvement in subjective alertness was linearly related to responses in the posterior thalamus. In addition, light enhanced responses in a set of cortical areas supporting attentional oddball effects, and it prevented decreases of activity otherwise observed during continuous darkness. Responses to light were remarkably dynamic. They declined within minutes after the end of the light stimulus, following various region-specific time courses. These findings suggest that light can modulate activity of subcortical structures involved in alertness, thereby dynamically promoting cortical activity in networks involved in ongoing nonvisual cognitive processes. KW - attention KW - auditory KW - fmri N1 - A really interesting, novel, short-term, powerful consequence of light exposure. AU - Vandewalle, G AU - Balteau, E AU - Phillips, C AU - Degueldre, C AU - Moreau, V AU - Sterpenich, V AU - Albouy, G AU - Darsaud, A AU - Desseilles, M AU - Dang-Vu, TT AU - Peigneux, P AU - Luxen, A AU - Dijk, DJ AU - Maquet, P PY - 2006/08/22/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2006.06.031 ER -