The Role of Daylight for Humans: Gaps in Current Knowledge.
- Münch M Sleep/Wake Research Centre, Massey University Wellington, Wellington 6021, New Zealand.
- Wirz-Justice A Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland; anna.wirz-justice@unibas.ch (A.W.-J.); Oliver.Stefani@upk.ch (O.S.).
- Brown SA Chronobiology and Sleep Research Group, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland; steven.brown@pharma.uzh.ch.
- Kantermann T Faculty for Health and Social Affairs, University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management (FOM), 45141 Essen, Germany; thomas.kantermann@fom.de.
- Martiny K Psychiatric Center Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Klaus.Martiny@regionh.dk.
- Stefani O Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland; anna.wirz-justice@unibas.ch (A.W.-J.); Oliver.Stefani@upk.ch (O.S.).
- Vetter C Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA; Celine.Vetter@Colorado.EDU (C.V.); Kenneth.Wright@colorado.edu (K.P.W.J.).
- Wright KP Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA; Celine.Vetter@Colorado.EDU (C.V.); Kenneth.Wright@colorado.edu (K.P.W.J.).
- Wulff K Departments of Radiation Sciences and Molecular Biology, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden; katharina.wulff@umu.se.
- Skene DJ Chronobiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK; d.skene@surrey.ac.uk.
- 2020-10-22
Published in:
- Clocks & sleep. - 2020
English
Daylight stems solely from direct, scattered and reflected sunlight, and undergoes dynamic changes in irradiance and spectral power composition due to latitude, time of day, time of year and the nature of the physical environment (reflections, buildings and vegetation). Humans and their ancestors evolved under these natural day/night cycles over millions of years. Electric light, a relatively recent invention, interacts and competes with the natural light-dark cycle to impact human biology. What are the consequences of living in industrialised urban areas with much less daylight and more use of electric light, throughout the day (and at night), on general health and quality of life? In this workshop report, we have classified key gaps of knowledge in daylight research into three main groups: (I) uncertainty as to daylight quantity and quality needed for "optimal" physiological and psychological functioning, (II) lack of consensus on practical measurement and assessment methods and tools for monitoring real (day) light exposure across multiple time scales, and (III) insufficient integration and exchange of daylight knowledge bases from different disciplines. Crucial short and long-term objectives to fill these gaps are proposed.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- gold
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.3390/clockssleep2010008
- PMID 33089192
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/152839
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