Trial reportThe Journal of clinical investigation2016
Temporal integration of light flashes by the human circadian system.
Trial report in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01119365 (Bright Light as a Countermeasure for Circadian Desynchrony), which is not on this map. Cited by 49 papers.
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.
Bright Light as a Countermeasure for Circadian Desynchrony
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of repeated morning bright white light exposures on attention in a simulated office environment.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Effect of Light Flashes vs Sham Therapy During Sleep With Adjunct Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Sleep Quality Among Adolescents: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2019Trial
- Circadian phase resetting by a single short-duration light exposure.JCI insight · 2017Trial
- Wavelength-dependent sleep state manipulation using light pulses in Pogona vitticeps.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Circadian Phase Estimation From Ambulatory Wearables With Particle Filtering: Accuracy Depends on Initialization, Recording Duration, and Light Exposure.Journal of biological rhythms · 2026Article
- Simulated natural daylight and twilight modulate activity and light sampling behaviour in mice.BMC biology · 2026Article
- Retinal Origins of Circadian Photoregulation's Specialized Dynamic Range and Temporal Integration.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- A millisecond parameter space for phase-shifting the circadian pacemaker with near-ultraviolet light.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2025Article
- Lack of strong evidence for cone photoreceptors' contribution to human melatonin suppression and alerting response to light.iScience · 2025Article
- Behavioural determinants of physiologically-relevant light exposure.Communications psychology · 2024Review
- Effects of calibrated blue-yellow changes in light on the human circadian clock.Nature human behaviour · 2024Article
- Human-Centric Lighting Research and Policy in the Melanopsin Age.Policy insights from the behavioral and brain sciences · 2023Article
- Moving time zones in a flash with light therapy during sleep.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Article
- The Complex Effects of Light on Metabolism in Humans.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Article
- Human circadian rhythm studies: Practical guidelines for inclusion/exclusion criteria and protocol.Neurobiology of sleep and circadian rhythms · 2022Review
- Electric lighting, adolescent sleep and circadian outcomes, and recommendations for improving light health.Sleep medicine reviews · 2022Review
- Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders in Older Adults.Sleep medicine clinics · 2022Review
- Spectrophotometric properties of commercially available blue blockers across multiple lighting conditions.Chronobiology international · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBeyond image formation, the light that is detected by retinal photoreceptors influences subcortical functions, including circadian timing, sleep, and arousal. The physiology of nonimage-forming (NIF) photoresponses in humans is not well understood; therefore, the development of therapeutic interventions based on this physiology, such as bright light therapy to treat chronobiological disorders, remains challenging.
methodsThirty-nine participants were exposed to 60 minutes of either continuous light (n = 8) or sequences of 2-millisecond light flashes (n = 31) with different interstimulus intervals (ISIs; ranging from 2.5 to 240 seconds). Melatonin phase shift and suppression, along with changes in alertness and sleepiness, were assessed.
resultsWe determined that the human circadian system integrates flash sequences in a nonlinear fashion with a linear rise to a peak response (ISI = 7.6 ± 0.53 seconds) and a power function decrease following the peak of responsivity. At peak ISI, flashes were at least 2-fold more effective in phase delaying the circadian system as compared with exposure to equiluminous continuous light 3,800 times the duration. Flashes did not change melatonin concentrations or alertness in an ISI-dependent manner.
conclusionWe have demonstrated that intermittent light is more effective than continuous light at eliciting circadian changes. These findings cast light on the phenomenology of photic integration and suggest a dichotomous retinohypothalamic network leading to circadian phase shifting and other NIF photoresponses. Further clinical trials are required to judge the practicality of light flash protocols.
trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT01119365.
fundingNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (1R01HL108441-01A1) and Department of Veterans Affairs Sierra Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center.
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What 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.