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Light Treatment for Sleep Disorders: Consensus Report

I. Chronology of Seminal Studies in Humans

Laboratory of Human Chronobiology, New York Hospital, Cornell University Medical College, 21 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains, NY 10605

Charmane I. Eastman

Biological Rhythms Research Laboratory, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, 1653 West Congress Parkway, Chicago, IL 60612

Michael Terman

Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, 722 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032

Alfred J. Lewy

Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health Sciences University, 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97201

Ziad Boulos

Institute for Circadian Physiology, I Alewife Center, Cambridge, MA 02140

Derk-Jan Dijk

Institute of Pharmacology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland

Examination of the influence of the light-dark cycle on circadian rhythmicity has been a fundamental aspect of chronobiology since its inception as a scientific discipline. Beginning with Bünning's hypothetical phase response curve in 1936, the impact of timed light exposure on circadian rhythms of literally hundreds of species has been described. The view that the light-dark cycle was an important zeitgeber for the human circadian system, as well, seemed to be supported by early studies of blind and sighted subjects. Yet, by the early 1970s, based primarily on a series of studies conducted at Erling-Andechs, Germany, the notion became widely accepted that the light-dark cycle had only a weak influence on the human circadian system and that social cues played a more important role in entrainment. In 1980, investigators at the National Institute of Mental Health reported that bright light could suppress melatonin production in humans, thereby demonstrating unequivocally the powerful effects of light on the human central nervous system. This finding led directly to the use of timed bright light exposure as a tool for the study and treatment of human circadian rhythms disorders.

Key Words: light • circadian rhythms • phase response curve • history of experiments

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