Light at the end of the tunnel
Just two weeks left before the shortest day of the year. But it’s pretty dark in the meantime.
If you can get outside for just 30 minutes at lunchtime, you’ll improve your ability to sleep and to smile – Genome-wide gene by environment study of time spent in daylight and chronotype identifies emerging genetic architecture underlying light sensitivity. Sleep.
But for those who can’t, especially for older adults, exposure to bright artificial light ‘bright light therapy’ could help them feel more alert during the day – and get a better night’s sleep too.
This systematic literature review in JAMADA summarises the three broad approaches currently proven to deliver reliable results in terms of sleep for older people: high intensity (>10,000 lux for 30-60 minutes); moderate light exposure (2,500-10,000 lux for 1-2 hours); or long-term (<2,500 lux for 1-4 hours) – Light Therapy to Improve Sleep Quality in Older Adults Living in Residential Long-Term Care: A Systematic Review.
The benefits of bright light exposure may extend to managing cognitive decline for people living with dementia. This recent study compared exposure to ‘standard’ lighting (200 lux) with just 2,500 lux for an hour in the morning and found improvements in markers of cognitive decline in community-dwelling women over 60 living with cognitive decline – Bright Morning Lighting Enhancing Parasympathetic Activity at Night: A Pilot Study on Elderly Female Patients with Dementia without a Pacemaker
The most recent edition of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology draws the same conclusion, pointing out that the number of neurofibrillary tangles in the hippocampus, one of the main biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, rises in parallel with the levels of melatonin in cerebrospinal fluid. The authors also note that lower salivary melatonin levels in middle-aged people may be a valuable biomarker for AD diagnosis. It concludes with a recommendation that light therapy combined with melatonin supplementation should be the first line of treatment, potentially ameliorating cognitive impairment – Chapter 16 – Sleep–wake modulation and pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease: Suggestions for postponement and treatment.
So the more light the better, right?
But many older people, especially women, suffer from ‘aversive visual light sensitivity’ (or AVLS), making those very high light levels uncomfortable. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those with higher AVLS suffered from more headaches, poorer sleep and reduced health overall – Aversive light sensitivity and aging: Implications for sleep and health in older adults.
So quality as well as quantity count if we want to create bright, uplifting spaces where those who need it most can thrive.
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It really is the thought that counts
If you’re feeling under pressure to spend more than you can afford or paying a premium for express delivery, relax and invest in going the extra mile to find something that shows you care – Behavioral costs as determinants of cost perception and preference formation for gifts to receive and gifts to give.
It turns out there’s a mis-match between giver and recipient perception of the ‘perfect gift’
For givers, going big for the ‘wow factor’ is seen as a sign of affection, while for the recipient, these obvious attributes may be seen as wasteful and ostentatious, signalling ‘style over substance’. This discrepancy becomes even more stark in situations of obligatory giving- like gifts to your boss or your child’s teacher at school – Thoughtful or thoughtless? Asymmetric attitudes of gift-givers and gift-recipients toward overpackaged gifts.
Whatever you choose, take the time to wrap it neatly – even if your loved one doesn’t like the gift, they are likely to have a more positive attitude than if it’s sloppily presented – perhaps linked to the principle of care – Presentation Matters: The Effect of Wrapping Neatness on Gift Attitudes.