How Eyes Use Light to Manage Body Clocks

New Evidence on How our Eyes use Light to Manage our Body Clock - University of Surrey Groundbreaking Study Results

August 20, 2001

A new study published this week shows for the first time that the human eye is sensitive to short wave length visible light and transmits information to the body clock in a way that may make it possible to manipulate waking and sleeping rhythms. This new data, gained from a study carried out at the University of Surrey, might enable this type of light, which is dark blue in colour, to be used to adjust the body clocks of shift workers, those affected by seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or of travellers on long haul flights to avoid jet lag.

Debra Skene and colleagues at the Centre for Chronobiology of the School for Biomedical and Life Sciences at the University of Surrey demonstrated the existence of a novel non-rod, non-cone photoreceptor system in the human retina in their study of 22 subjects (who underwent 215 light exposure trials in total). Those who took part showed enhanced/more melatonin suppression following blue light exposure, which was not accounted for by the known visual photoreceptors in the human retina.

Speaking of the results, Dr Skene said: 'Our findings have exciting future applications, which we can imagine will be effective in the field of lighting for health. Some sections of the population have a particular need to adjust and manipulate their circadian axis, or body clocks, in order to be able to function more effectively during hours of the night when our body's response is to tell us to sleep.'

Alethea Gnanakan

A&P2 Current Event

10/1/10

Our body’s natural clock is well known. It is how we wake up in the morning without the use of our alarm clocks and how we know the approximate time to go to bed without knowing the exact time. It has been proved now that a method the body uses to be able to tell what time It is using our natural clock is through light.

Our body is sensitive to...