Trial reportThe Journal of physiology2012
Human responses to bright light of different durations.
Trial report in The Journal of physiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 119 papers, 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
119 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis on light therapy for sleep disorders in shift workers.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Dose-response effects of light therapy on sleepiness and circadian phase shift in shift workers: a meta-analysis and moderator analysis.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Intrinsic Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders: Advanced Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder (ASWPD), Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder (DSWPD), Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Rhythm Disorder (N24SWD), and Irregular Sleep-Wake Rhythm Disorder (ISWRD). An Update for 2015: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2015Guideline
- Impact of repeated morning bright white light exposures on attention in a simulated office environment.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Characterizing the temporal Dynamics of Melatonin and Cortisol Changes in Response to Nocturnal Light Exposure.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- A placebo-controlled pilot study of a wearable morning bright light treatment for probable PTSD.Depression and anxiety · 2019Trial
- Circadian phase resetting by a single short-duration light exposure.JCI insight · 2017Trial
- Temporal integration of light flashes by the human circadian system.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2016Trial
- Home Circadian Phase Assessments with Measures of Compliance Yield Accurate Dim Light Melatonin Onsets.Sleep · 2015Trial
- Transcranial bright light treatment via the ear canals in seasonal affective disorder: a randomized, double-blind dose-response study.BMC psychiatry · 2014Trial
- Phase-shifting response to light in older adults.The Journal of physiology · 2014Trial
- Combination of light and melatonin time cues for phase advancing the human circadian clock.Sleep · 2013Trial
- Effects of filtering visual short wavelengths during nocturnal shiftwork on sleep and performance.Chronobiology international · 2013Trial
- Trial
- Considerations and guidelines for photic measurement in field studies of the physiological effects of light.Npj biological timing and sleep · 2026Review
- The Light-Eye-Brain Axis: Neurobiological Links Between Mood Disorders and Myopia-A Narrative Review.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2026Review
- Naturalistic light exposure patterns in relation to medication status, mood symptoms, and chronotype.Npj biological timing and sleep · 2026Article
- Home lighting, blue-light filtering, and their effects on melatonin suppression.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Sleep-Related Problems and Problematic Smartphone Use in Young Adult Males: Findings from a Short-Term Behavioral Restriction Study.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Article
- Exposure to light and noise at night, and sleep quality in community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study.European geriatric medicine · 2025Article
59 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
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Light exposure in the early night induces phase delays of the circadian rhythm in melatonin in humans. Previous studies have investigated the effect of timing, intensity, wavelength, history and pattern of light stimuli on the human circadian timing system. We present results from a study of the duration–response relationship to phase-delaying bright light. Thirty-nine young healthy participants (16 female; 22.18±3.62 years) completed a 9-day inpatient study. Following three baseline days, participants underwent an initial circadian phase assessment procedure in dim light (<3 lux), and were then randomized for exposure to a bright light pulse (∼10,000 lux) of 0.2 h, 1.0 h, 2.5 h or 4.0 h duration during a 4.5 h controlled-posture episode centred in a 16 h wake episode. After another 8 h sleep episode, participants completed a second circadian phase assessment. Phase shifts were calculated from the difference in the clock time of the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) between the initial and final phase assessments. Exposure to varying durations of bright light reset the circadian pacemaker in a dose-dependent, non-linear manner. Per minute of exposure, the 0.2 h duration was over 5 times more effective at phase delaying the circadian pacemaker (1.07±0.36 h) as compared with the 4.0 h duration (2.65±0.24 h). Acute melatonin suppression and subjective sleepiness also had a dose-dependent response to light exposure duration. These results provide strong evidence for a non-linear resetting response of the human circadian pacemaker to light duration.
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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.