ArticleSomnologie : Schlafforschung und Schlafmedizin = Somnology : sleep research and sleep medicine2019
Effects of light on human circadian rhythms, sleep and mood.
Article in Somnologie : Schlafforschung und Schlafmedizin = Somnology : sleep research and sleep medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05616819 (Regulating Mood and Suicidal Ideation With Morning Light Exposure Treatment), which is not on this map. Cited by 269 papers, 10 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.
Regulating Mood and Suicidal Ideation With Morning Light Exposure Treatment
Who cites it
269 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 611 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comprehensive effects and dose-response relationship of screen exposure on university students' physical and mental health and academic performance in the digital age: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Ocular light and optical radiation exposure as a modifiable environmental determinant of health: expert consensus on research gaps and priorities.BMC medicine · 2026Guideline
- Long-term night shift work and cardiometabolic health in healthcare workers: a review of mechanisms and precision intervention strategies.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Bright light therapy for post-stroke sleep disturbances: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Ovarian Hormones and Addictive Behaviour Vulnerability: Insights From Preclinical Studies.Addiction biology · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis on light therapy for sleep disorders in shift workers.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- The effects of sensory stimulation therapy in patients with sleep disorders: a scoping review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- Artificial light at night and risk of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Guideline
- Physiological Rhythms and Biological Variation of Biomolecules: The Road to Personalized Laboratory Medicine.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Reducing Test Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study of Evening Bright Light Exposure in University Students.Depression and anxiety · 2025Trial
- Effects of chronotype-tailored bright light intervention on post-treatment symptoms and quality of life in breast cancer survivors.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023Trial
- "If you have light, your heart will be at peace": A qualitative study of household lighting and social integration in southwestern Uganda.Journal of global health · 2023Trial
- Review
- Associations between weather variables and sleep architecture: A large-scale analysis using consumer sleep data.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2026Article
- Defining Clock Neurons Within Distributed Circadian Circuits Through Multiscale Technologies.Journal of biological rhythms · 2026Review
- Article
- Smart Furniture-Embedded Bed-Interaction and Multimodal Room Sensing with Sleep-Aware Hierarchical Fusion for Control-Oriented Bedroom State Recognition.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Natural Light Exposure as a Potential 7th Pillar of Lifestyle Medicine.American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2026Article
- Analysis of real-world eye level light exposure through spectacle lens.Npj biological timing and sleep · 2026Article
209 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
3 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Humans live in a 24-hour environment, in which light and darkness follow a diurnal pattern. Our circadian pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in the hypothalamus, is entrained to the 24-hour solar day via a pathway from the retina and synchronises our internal biological rhythms. Rhythmic variations in ambient illumination impact behaviours such as rest during sleep and activity during wakefulness as well as their underlying biological processes. Rather recently, the availability of artificial light has substantially changed the light environment, especially during evening and night hours. This may increase the risk of developing circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders (CRSWD), which are often caused by a misalignment of endogenous circadian rhythms and external light-dark cycles. While the exact relationship between the availability of artificial light and CRSWD remains to be established, nocturnal light has been shown to alter circadian rhythms and sleep in humans. On the other hand, light can also be used as an effective and noninvasive therapeutic option with little to no side effects, to improve sleep,mood and general well-being. This article reviews our current state of knowledge regarding the effects of light on circadian rhythms, sleep, and mood.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.