Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jul 1;1(3):280-289.
doi: 10.3390/clockssleep1030024. Epub 2019 Jun 26.

How to Report Light Exposure in Human Chronobiology and Sleep Research Experiments

Manuel Spitschan  1   2   3 , Oliver Stefani  2   3 , Peter Blattner #  4 , Claude Gronfier #  5 , Steven W Lockley #  6   7   8 , Robert J Lucas #  9
Affiliations

How to Report Light Exposure in Human Chronobiology and Sleep Research Experiments

Manuel Spitschan et al. Clocks Sleep. .

Abstract

Exposure to light has short- and long-term impacts on non-visual responses in humans. While many aspects related to non-visual light sensitivity have been characterised (such as the action spectrum for melatonin suppression), much remains to be elucidated. Here, we provide a set of minimum reporting guidelines for reporting the stimulus conditions involving light as an intervention in chronobiology, sleep research and environmental psychology experiments. Corresponding to the current state-of-the-art knowledge (June 2019), these are (i) measure and report the spectral power distribution of the acute stimulus from the observer's point of view; (ii) measure and report the spectral power distribution of the background light environment from the observer's point of view; (iii), make spectra available in tabulated form, (iv) report α-opic (ir)radiances and illuminance; (v) describe the timing properties of stimulus (duration and pattern); (vi) describe the spatial properties of stimulus (spatial arrangement and extent), and (vii) report measurement conditions and equipment. We supplement the minimum reporting guidelines with optional reporting suggestions and discuss limitations of the reporting scheme.

Keywords: chronobiology; environmental psychology; light exposure; non-visual function; reporting; reproducible research; retina; sleep research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: M.S. is listed as an inventor on a patent application filed by the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania on September 11, 2015 (US Patent Application No. 14/852,001, “Robust Targeting of Photosensitive Molecules”. M.S. is Chair of the OSA Color Technical Group. M.S. was a member of the CIE Joint Technical Committee 9. M.S. has had the following commercial interests in the last two years (2017–2018): Investigator-initiated research grants from f.lux Software LLC, and BIOS Lighting LLC; consulting contract with Seoul Semiconductors; speaker fees for invited seminars from Seoul Semiconductors and Apple. O.S. is listed as an inventor on the following patents: US8646939B2—Display system having circadian effect on humans; DE102010047207B4—Projection system and method for projecting image content; US8994292B2—Adaptive lighting system; WO2006013041A1—Projection device and filter therefor; WO2016092112A1—Method for the selective adjustment of a desired brightness and/or color of a specific spatial area, and data processing device therefor. O.S. is a member of the Daylight Academy. O.S. has had the following commercial interests in the last two years (2017–18) related to lighting: Investigator-initiated research grants from Derungs, Audi, VW, Porsche, Festo, ZDF and Toshiba. Speaker fees for invited seminars from Merck, Fraunhofer, Firalux and Selux. P.B. was a member of the CIE Joint Technical Committee 9 and is elected President of CIE for the period 2019 to 2023. P.B. acts as technical expert of METAS in the VELUX Stiftung project 1134 “Light exposure and health – light-dosimeter for the long-term recording and examination of biologically effective radiation and its effect on humans”, METAS being an unfunded project partner. C.G. has had the following commercial interests in the last two years (2017–2018) related to lighting: Consulting contracts with Dayvia, Lucibel, Mutualité Francaise; unrestricted equipment gifts from Dayvia, HeLight; travel, accommodation and/or meals only (no honoraria) for invited seminars, conference presentations or teaching from LEDForum. C.G. is listed as an inventor on 2 patents filed by Inserm Transfer (WO2017037250 A1 (09.02.2016), "Wearable Health and Lifestyle Device", and WO2016124836 A1 (08-12-2016), "Lighting apparatus with optimum stimulation of non-visual functions"). S.W.L. has had a number of commercial interests in the last two years (2017–2018) related to lighting: Ongoing consulting contracts with Headwaters Inc., Light Cognitive, Lighting Science Group Corporation, Mental Workout, Six Senses, and Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering; unrestricted equipment gifts from Bionetics Corporation and F. Lux Software LLC; travel, accommodation and/or meals only (no honoraria) for invited seminars, conference presentations or teaching from DIN, IES and the Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms; an ongoing investigator-initiated research grant from f.lux Software LLC. S.W.L. was a Program Leader for the CRC for Alertness, Safety and Productivity, Australia, and Vice Chair of the IES-NA Light and Health Committee. R.J.L. is listed as an inventor on PCT/GB2017/050338 ‘Improvements in Image Formation’; has an ongoing investigator-initiated research grant partially funded by Signify; was a member of the CIE Joint Technical Committee 9. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Gooley J.J., Ho Mien I., St Hilaire M.A., Yeo S.C., Chua E.C., van Reen E., Hanley C.J., Hull J.T., Czeisler C.A., Lockley S.W. Melanopsin and rod-cone photoreceptors play different roles in mediating pupillary light responses during exposure to continuous light in humans. J Neurosci. 2012;32:14242–14253. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1321-12.2012. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Spitschan M., Jain S., Brainard D.H., Aguirre G.K. Opponent melanopsin and S-cone signals in the human pupillary light response. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2014;111:15568–15572. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1400942111. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brainard G.C., Hanifin J.P., Greeson J.M., Byrne B., Glickman G., Gerner E., Rollag M.D. Action spectrum for melatonin regulation in humans: Evidence for a novel circadian photoreceptor. J. Neurosci. 2001;21:6405–6412. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-16-06405.2001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thapan K., Arendt J., Skene D.J. An action spectrum for melatonin suppression: evidence for a novel non-rod, non-cone photoreceptor system in humans. J. Physiol. 2001;535:261–267. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7793.2001.t01-1-00261.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Prayag A.S., Jost S., Avouac P., Dumortier D., Gronfier C. Dynamics of Non-visual Responses in Humans: As Fast as Lightning? Front. Neurosci. 2019;13:126. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00126. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources