Citation

Rodríguez-Morilla B, Madrid JA, Molina E, Correa A. Front. Psychol. 2017; 8: e997.

Affiliation

Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Universidad de GranadaGranada, Spain.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Frontiers Research Foundation)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00997

PMID

28690558

PMCID

PMC5479916

Abstract

Vigilance usually deteriorates over prolonged driving at non-optimal times of day. Exposure to blue-enriched light has shown to enhance arousal, leading to behavioral benefits in some cognitive tasks. However, the cognitive effects of long-wavelength light have been less studied and its effects on driving performance remained to be addressed. We tested the effects of a blue-enriched white light (BWL) and a long-wavelength orange light (OL) vs. a control condition of dim light on subjective, physiological and behavioral measures at 21:45 h. Neurobehavioral tests included the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale and subjective mood scale, recording of distal-proximal temperature gradient (DPG, as index of physiological arousal), accuracy in simulated driving and reaction time in the auditory psychomotor vigilance task. The results showed that BWL decreased the DPG (reflecting enhanced arousal), while it did not improve reaction time or driving performance. Instead, blue light produced larger driving errors than OL, while performance in OL was stable along time on task. These data suggest that physiological arousal induced by light does not necessarily imply cognitive improvement. Indeed, excessive arousal might deteriorate accuracy in complex tasks requiring precision, such as driving.

Language: en

Keywords

alertness; circadian rhythms; lighting; psychomotor vigilance task; simulated driving; temperature; time on task; vigilance decrement