Temporal-Spectral Control of Artificail Lighting for Improved Health

目前的研究表明，每天的阳光（主要是通过mc-RGC途径）对急性脑功能和昼夜生理的日常夹带都有深远的影响。 我们的夜间暴露于人工照明可能会破坏昼夜生理，正如许多关于轮班工作者的研究所表明的那样，特别是不规则的轮班工作。 昼夜生理紊乱似乎会增加患癌症的风险，代谢综合征的发病率，并可能增加广泛的神经精神疾病。 因此，人们可以通过优化人工照明的光谱时间控制来改善我们现代民众的健康和生产力，该人工照明在夜间平衡夜间任务的明视视力与最小化蓝光的昼夜节律破坏。相反，丰富的白天（例如，早晨）人工照明中的蓝光成分可以改善诸如警觉性的急性脑功能，并防止在大多数白天时间内在室内的个体的昼夜节律中断。 我们目前对光谱照明对人类非视觉影响的了解主要局限于大规模流行病学研究中少数受试者和风险因素的隔离对照睡眠实验室研究。即使有关于mc-RGC细胞的作用光谱（包括蓝-红光逆转）及其在重要大脑通路（包括急性警觉性和昼夜节律同步）中的作用的重要新数据，我们也没有合理的方法来设计最佳光谱照明以促进健康和生产力。 目前，现实世界的光谱时间照明优化人类的表现和生理是不可靠的测试。 贡献最高视网膜光谱辐照度的最常见的人造光源是计算机监视器（和电视，尽管通常在较窄的视场内），其普遍设计为超过到达视网膜的环境光水平。在我们的现代社会中，大部分人口平均每天使用电脑4小时。 同样，在美国，一个普通家庭的电视机通常要开8个小时。这些高亮度的光源，我们经常长时间注视，是最有可能改变含有黑视素的视网膜神经节细胞及其向大脑投射的自然激活模式的来源。我们的假设是，我们人群中的很大一部分人从他们的日常计算机使用中经历了足够的光谱-时间视网膜辐照度，以增加他们的昼夜节律中断和各种相关生理应激的风险（例如，可能导致代谢综合征和注意力缺陷障碍的发病率增加）。 如果这一假设是正确的，那么改变计算机显示器上的时间光谱昼夜模式可能会减少昼夜节律的破坏，同时保持敏锐的视觉功能和白天的表现。 此外，认知功能和注意力测试现在通常使用计算机上的受试者反应进行。 目前，不同光谱的影响是在高度控制的专业测试平台（例如睡眠实验室）中研究的，这些测试平台很难可靠地推断到真实的世界环境。 我们寻求将联合收割机现代化的LED/LCD计算机显示器与已经开发的计算机化注意力、认知功能和生产力测试沿着基于计算机的昼夜生理学问卷记录相结合。 有了这个组合测试平台，我们将在现实世界的系统中进行照明光谱-时间控制优化的新研究，这些系统可以随时输出到办公室和家庭环境中。 在与劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室的照明部门和加州照明研究中心的合作下，美国能源部FLEMP拨款，我们已经开发出可编程的低级别的时间和光谱控制的计算机显示器亮度，这是与其他计算机程序的正常功能兼容，无论是认知功能测试和正常的计算机使用在工作和家庭。 我们目前正在设计这些独立的频谱时间控制功能和数据记录与标准化的警觉性，反应时间和认知功能测试的集成。

Current research indicates that daily sunlight (largely through the mc-RGC pathway) is having a profound effect on both acute brain function and daily entrainment of circadian physiology. Our night-time exposures to artificial lighting are potentially disruptive of circadian physiology as has been suggested by numerous studies on shift-workers, particularly irregular shift work. Disruption of circadian physiology appears to increase the risk for cancer, the incidence of metabolic syndrome, and possibly a wide spectrum of neuro-psychiatric disorders. As a consequence one might improve health and productivity of our modern populace in general by optimizing spectral temporal control of artificial lighting that at night balances photopic visual acuity for night-time tasks with minimizing circadian disruption by blue-light. Conversely enriching daytime (e.g., morning) blue-light components in artificial lighting may improve acute brain functions such as alertness and prevent circadian disruptions in individuals who are indoors during most daylight hours and. Our current knowledge of human non-visual effects of spectral lighting is largely limited to isolated controlled sleep-lab studies on small numbers of subjects and risk factors in large-scale epidemiology studies. Even with significant new data about the action spectra of the mc-RGC cells (including blue-red photoreversal) and their role in important brain pathways including acute alertness and circadian synchronization, we do not have a rationale approach to designing optimal spectral lighting for health and productivity. Currently real-world optimization of spectral temporal lighting for human performance and physiology is not reliably testable. The most common artificial light sources that contribute the highest retinal spectral irradiance are computer monitors (and televisions though generally over a narrower field of view) universally designed to exceed ambient light levels reaching the retina. In our modern society, large segments of the population average 4 hours of computer use per day. Similarly televisions are on typically up to 8 hours in an average Amercian household. These high brightness sources on which we routinely fixate for long periods are the most likely sources to be altering natural patterns of activation of melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells and their projections to the brain. Our hypothesis is that a significant portion of our population experiences sufficient spectral-temporal retinal irradiance from their daily computer use to increase their risk for circadian disruption and a variety of associated physiological stresses (e.g., possibly contributing to increasing incidence in metabolic syndrome and attention deficit disorders). If this hypothesis is correct, then changing the temporal-spectral diurnal patterns on their computer monitors might reduce circadian disruption while preserving acute visual function and daytime performance. Furthermore cognitive function and attention testing is now routinely performed using subject responses on computers. Currently the effects of different light spectra are studied in highly controlled specialized testbeds, such as sleep labs, that are difficult to reliably extrapolate to real world environments. We seek to combine modern multicolor LED/LCD computer monitors with already developed computerized attention, cognitive function and productivity tests along with computer-based circadian physiology questionnaire logging. With this combined testbed, we would pursue new research into lighting spectral-temporal control optimization for health in real-world systems readily exportable to office and home environments. In collaboration with the Lighting Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the California Lighting Research Center under a DOE FLEMP grant, we have developed programmable low-level temporal and spectral control of computer monitor luminance that is compatible with the normal function of other computer programs both for cognitive function testing and for normal computer uses at work and at home. We are currently designing integration of these independent spectral-temporal control functions and data logging with standardized alertness, response time and cognitive function tests.