HOW LIGHT THERAPY IMPROVES MOOD

-

 

HOW LIGHT THERAPY IMPROVES MOOD

The light activates the circadian clock gene Period1 in a brain region that affects mood.




Light therapy can help improve the mood of people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) during short winter days, but exactly how this therapy works is not well understood. A  study by Urs Albrecht at the University of Fribourg, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, finds that light therapy's beneficial effects come from activating the circadian clock gene Period1 in a part of the brain involved in mood and sleep-wake cycles.

Nighttime light has substantial effects on the physiology and behavior of mammals. It can reset an animal's circadian rhythms and, in the form of light therapy, affect mood in humans. Albrecht and his colleagues investigated how nighttime light impacts mood using mice as a model. They exposed mice to a pulse of light at different points during the night and then tested them for depressive behavior. The researchers discovered that light exposure at the end of the dark period -- two hours before daytime -- had an antidepressant effect on the animals. The light pulse activated the Period1 gene in a brain region called the lateral habenula, which plays a role in mood. Light at other times, however, had no effect. When they deleted the Period1 gene, the mice no longer experienced the light's beneficial effects.

The new results prove that turning on Period 1 in the lateral habenula is the key to light's mood-boosting powers. Similar to human findings, mice appeared less depressed when exposed to light at the end of the dark period than at the beginning. Light therapy is more efficient in the early morning than in the evening for patients with SAD. However, the researchers caution against making too many direct comparisons to humans since mice are nocturnal animals.

The researchers add, "Light perceived in the late part of the night induces expression of the clock gene Per1, which is related to improvement of depression like behavior in mice."



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learn How the NEW Nutrition Facts Label Can Help You Improve Your Health

-
Image
  Learn How the NEW Nutrition Facts Label Can Help You Improve Your Health The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new regulations changing the  Nutrition Facts  label external  icon  on packaged foods. This is the first major change to the label since it was introduced in 1994. The changes are based on updated science, the most  recent dietary  recommendations, external  icon , and public input. Using the new label can help you choose foods for a healthy diet. The label will be required on all packaged foods made in the United States and imported from other countries. The new label is already appearing on packages. Most items will have the new label by January 1, 2021. What is changing? Calories & Fat Larger, darker letters make calories the easiest item to see on the new label. When it comes to health outcomes, the type of fat you eat matters more than the overall amount of fat. For this reason, the label will no longer show the per...
Read more

MUSCLES EXERCISING POWERS NEURON GROWTH AND REPAIR

-
Image
  MUSCLES EXERCISING POWERS NEURON GROWTH AND REPAIR The findings suggest that biochemicals released during exercise and the physical effects of exercise could help heal nerves. Exercise is good for the body. Regular activity strengthens muscles and can strengthen bones, blood vessels, and the immune system. Now, MIT engineers have found that exercise can also have benefits at the level of individual neurons. They observed that muscles contract during exercise and release biochemical signals called myokines. In these muscle-generated signals, neurons grew four times further than neurons not exposed to myokines. These cellular-level experiments suggest that exercise can have a significant biochemical effect on nerve growth. Surprisingly, the researchers also found that neurons respond to the biochemical signals of exercise and its physical impacts. The team observed that when neurons are repeatedly pulled back and forth, similar to how muscles contract and expand during trainin...
Read more

CANNABIS, THE PHANTOM MENACE, MORE DANGEROUS THAN IMAGINED

-
Image
  CANNABIS, THE PHANTOM MENACE, MORE DANGEROUS THAN IMAGINED  Scientists have known for some time that cannabis use has deleterious effects on health long-term. The evidence keeps piling up of how dangerous this drug can be.  A recent study conducted at McGill University showed how cannabis increases the risks of psychosis. These are just the latest concerns, as cannabis has also been implicated in increasing heart attacks and stroke risks, according to a study of 430,000 adults conducted by the American Heart Association. According to findings at McGill University, Young adults at risk of psychosis show reduced brain connectivity, a deficit that cannabis use appears to worsen. In the first-of-its-kind study, McGill University researchers detected a marked decrease in synaptic density -- the connections between neurons that enable brain communication -- in indivi...
Read more