Trial reportThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2001
Action spectrum for melatonin regulation in humans: evidence for a novel circadian photoreceptor.
Trial report in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2001. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 458 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Virtual Darkness as Additive Treatment in Mania- a Randomized Controlled Trial
Nightly Light Exposure in Pregnancy: Blue-blocking Glasses as an Intervention to Ease Sleep Disturbances and to Improve Mood
Who cites it
458 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,891 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of light therapy on insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2024Pooled it
- Associations between systemic melatonin and human myopia: A systematic review.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2023Pooled it
- Blue-Light Therapy for Seasonal and Non-Seasonal Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2022Pooled it
- Is Sedentary Behavior Associated With Executive Function in Children and Adolescents? A Systematic Review.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- A double-blind, controlled trial of circadian effective light therapy in patients with Parkinson's disease.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025Trial
- Improving children's alertness and neuromuscular response by using a blue-enriched white light in the kindergarten playroom.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Effects of a violet-excitation light-emitting diode on melatonin secretion and sleepiness: preliminary findings from a randomized controlled trial.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Evaluation of green light exposure on headache frequency and quality of life in migraine patients: A preliminary one-way cross-over clinical trial.Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache · 2021Trial
- Characterizing the temporal Dynamics of Melatonin and Cortisol Changes in Response to Nocturnal Light Exposure.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- Constructing melanopic light exposure profiles from sparse daily-route measurements.Npj biological timing and sleep · 2026Article
- Considerations and guidelines for photic measurement in field studies of the physiological effects of light.Npj biological timing and sleep · 2026Review
- Blue-Light Filters in Eye Care: A State-of-the-Art Review.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Dataset describing two reference models for full-spectral lighting and daylight simulations together with implementations for two software systems.Data in brief · 2026Article
- High-resolution monitoring reveals fragmented 24-hour light exposure in intensive care units.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Observational
- Review
- Light therapy in medicine: where do we stand?Annals of translational medicine · 2026Review
398 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The photopigment in the human eye that transduces light for circadian and neuroendocrine regulation, is unknown. The aim of this study was to establish an action spectrum for light-induced melatonin suppression that could help elucidate the ocular photoreceptor system for regulating the human pineal gland. Subjects (37 females, 35 males, mean age of 24.5 +/- 0.3 years) were healthy and had normal color vision. Full-field, monochromatic light exposures took place between 2:00 and 3:30 A.M. while subjects' pupils were dilated. Blood samples collected before and after light exposures were quantified for melatonin. Each subject was tested with at least seven different irradiances of one wavelength with a minimum of 1 week between each nighttime exposure. Nighttime melatonin suppression tests (n = 627) were completed with wavelengths from 420 to 600 nm. The data were fit to eight univariant, sigmoidal fluence-response curves (R(2) = 0.81-0.95). The action spectrum constructed from these data fit an opsin template (R(2) = 0.91), which identifies 446-477 nm as the most potent wavelength region providing circadian input for regulating melatonin secretion. The results suggest that, in humans, a single photopigment may be primarily responsible for melatonin suppression, and its peak absorbance appears to be distinct from that of rod and cone cell photopigments for vision. The data also suggest that this new photopigment is retinaldehyde based. These findings suggest that there is a novel opsin photopigment in the human eye that mediates circadian photoreception.
Indexed as
Identifiers
11487664PMC6763155W2115908598What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.