TY - JOUR
T1 - A pilot study of light exposure as a countermeasure for menstrual phase-dependent neurobehavioral performance impairment in women
AU - Grant, Leilah K.
AU - Gooley, Joshua J.
AU - St. Hilaire, Melissa A.
AU - Joffe, Hadine
AU - Brainard, George C.
AU - Van Reen, Eliza
AU - Rüger, Melanie
AU - Rajaratnam, Shantha M.W.
AU - Lockley, Steven W.
AU - Czeisler, Charles A.
AU - Rahman, Shadab A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke ( R01 NS36590 to G.C.B.), the National Institute of Mental Health ( R01 MH45130-11A1 to C.A.C. and S.W.L.), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( R01 AT002129 to C.A.C. and S.W.L.), and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences ( R21 ES017112-01A1 to S.W.L.). L.K.G. was supported in part by the Mary Ann Tynan Research Fund, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; L.K.G., M.S.H., H.J., S.W.L. and S.A.R. were supported in part by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute ( R01 HL162102-01 to M.S.H.); H.J. was supported in part by the National Institute on Aging ( R01 AG053838 to H.J.); G.C.B., C.A.C., and S.W.L. were supported in part by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute through NASA NCC 9-58; G.C.B. was supported, in part, by the Nova Institute. The project was supported by the National Center for Research Resources through grants to Brigham and Women’s Hospital General Clinical Research Center ( NCRR M01 RR02635 ) and the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center ( NCRR UL1 RR025758 ).
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS36590 to G.C.B.), the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH45130-11A1 to C.A.C. and S.W.L.), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (R01 AT002129 to C.A.C. and S.W.L.), and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R21 ES017112-01A1 to S.W.L.). L.K.G. was supported in part by the Mary Ann Tynan Research Fund, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women's Hospital; L.K.G., M.S.H., H.J., S.W.L. and S.A.R. were supported in part by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (R01 HL162102-01 to M.S.H.); H.J. was supported in part by the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG053838 to H.J.); G.C.B., C.A.C., and S.W.L. were supported in part by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute through NASA NCC 9-58; G.C.B. was supported, in part, by the Nova Institute. The project was supported by the National Center for Research Resources through grants to Brigham and Women's Hospital General Clinical Research Center (NCRR M01 RR02635) and the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center (NCRR UL1 RR025758).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 National Sleep Foundation
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - Objective: To examine effects of menstrual phase and nighttime light exposure on subjective sleepiness and auditory Psychomotor Vigilance Task performance. Methods: Twenty-nine premenopausal women (12 = Follicular; 17 = Luteal) completed a 6.5-hour nighttime monochromatic light exposure with varying wavelengths (420-620 nm) and irradiances (1.03-14.12 µW/cm2). Subjective sleepiness, reaction time, and attentional lapses were compared between menstrual phases in women with minimal (<33%) or substantial (≥33%) light-induced melatonin suppression. Results: When melatonin was not suppressed, women in the follicular phase had significantly worse reaction time (mean difference = 145.1 ms, 95% CI 51.8-238.3, p <.001, Cohen's D = 1.9) and lapses (mean difference = 12.9 lapses, 95% CI 4.37-21.41, p <.001, Cohen's D = 1.7) compared to women in the luteal phase. When melatonin was suppressed, women in the follicular phase had significantly better reaction time (mean difference = 152.1 ms, 95% CI 43.88-260.3, p <.001, Cohen's D = 1.7) and lapses (mean difference = 12.3 lapses, 95% CI 1.14-25.6, p <.01, Cohen's D = 1.6) compared to when melatonin was not suppressed, such that their performance was not different (p >.9) from women in the luteal phase. Subjective sleepiness did not differ by menstrual phase (mean difference = 0.6, p >.08) or melatonin suppression (mean difference = 0.2, p >.4). Conclusions: Nighttime light exposure sufficient to suppress melatonin can also mitigate neurobehavioral performance deficits associated with the follicular phase. Despite the relatively small sample size, these data suggest that nighttime light may be a valuable strategy to help reduce errors and accidents in female shift workers.
AB - Objective: To examine effects of menstrual phase and nighttime light exposure on subjective sleepiness and auditory Psychomotor Vigilance Task performance. Methods: Twenty-nine premenopausal women (12 = Follicular; 17 = Luteal) completed a 6.5-hour nighttime monochromatic light exposure with varying wavelengths (420-620 nm) and irradiances (1.03-14.12 µW/cm2). Subjective sleepiness, reaction time, and attentional lapses were compared between menstrual phases in women with minimal (<33%) or substantial (≥33%) light-induced melatonin suppression. Results: When melatonin was not suppressed, women in the follicular phase had significantly worse reaction time (mean difference = 145.1 ms, 95% CI 51.8-238.3, p <.001, Cohen's D = 1.9) and lapses (mean difference = 12.9 lapses, 95% CI 4.37-21.41, p <.001, Cohen's D = 1.7) compared to women in the luteal phase. When melatonin was suppressed, women in the follicular phase had significantly better reaction time (mean difference = 152.1 ms, 95% CI 43.88-260.3, p <.001, Cohen's D = 1.7) and lapses (mean difference = 12.3 lapses, 95% CI 1.14-25.6, p <.01, Cohen's D = 1.6) compared to when melatonin was not suppressed, such that their performance was not different (p >.9) from women in the luteal phase. Subjective sleepiness did not differ by menstrual phase (mean difference = 0.6, p >.08) or melatonin suppression (mean difference = 0.2, p >.4). Conclusions: Nighttime light exposure sufficient to suppress melatonin can also mitigate neurobehavioral performance deficits associated with the follicular phase. Despite the relatively small sample size, these data suggest that nighttime light may be a valuable strategy to help reduce errors and accidents in female shift workers.
KW - Light
KW - Melatonin
KW - Menstrual phase
KW - Neurobehavioral performance
KW - Night work
KW - Shift work
KW - Women
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171980727&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.sleh.2023.08.012
DO - 10.1016/j.sleh.2023.08.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 37748973
AN - SCOPUS:85171980727
SN - 2352-7218
VL - 10
SP - S34-S40
JO - Sleep Health
JF - Sleep Health
IS - 1S
ER -