Citation

Leichtfried V, Mair-Raggautz M, Schaeffer V, Hammerer-Lercher A, Mair G, Bartenbach C, Canazei M, Schobersberger W. Appl. Ergon. 2014; 46: 54-59.

Affiliation

Institute for Sports Medicine, Alpine Medicine & Health Tourism, Department for Medical Sciences and Health Systems Management, UMIT Hall & TILAK/LKI Innsbruck, Eduard-Wallnöfer-Zentrum 1, A-6060 Hall in Tirol, Austria.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.apergo.2014.07.001

PMID

25106786

Abstract

Cognitive performance and alertness are two determinants for work efficiency, varying throughout the day and depending on bright light. We conducted a prospective crossover study evaluating the impacts of exposure to an intense, early morning illumination on sustained attention, alertness, mood, and serum melatonin levels in 33 healthy individuals. Compared with a dim illumination, the intense illumination negatively impacted performance requiring sustained attention; however, it positively impacted subjective alertness and mood and had no impact on serum melatonin levels. These results suggest that brief exposure to bright light in the morning hours can improve subjective measures of mood and alertness, but can also have detrimental effects on mental performance as a result of visual distraction. Therefore, it is important that adequate lighting should correspond to both non-visual and visual demands.

Language: en