Bright morning light cuts stress in office workers
The subjects who received sufficient light – either daylight or artificial – to stimulate their body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm, were able to fall asleep more quickly at bedtime, and experienced better quality sleep. Office workers who receive bright light in the morning have better sleep and lower levels of stress than those who receive low light levels, scientists have discovered. The subjects who received sufficient light – either daylight or artificial – to stimulate their body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm, were able to fall asleep more quickly at bedtime, and experienced better quality sleep. They also reported lower levels of stress and depression. The finding was consistent during both summer and winter. The scientists, working at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York state, recorded each subject’s daily circadian stimulus or CS, the calculated effectiveness of light’s impact on the circadia