Most aging Americans experience increased objective disturbances of initiating and maintaining sleep. Insomnia complaints are among the most important risk factors for institutionalization and early death among the elderly. likewise, depressive symptoms are colon and highly disabling, and the rate of suicide is increasing among elderly Americans. An ongoing survey shows that inadequate daylight exposures are associated with insomnia and depressive symptoms among adults 40-64 year of age. Preliminary studies and theoretical arguments indicate that insomnia and depression in aging Americans are partly caused by inadequate light exposure. This study will survey the prevalence of low illumination exposure in a representative sample of the San Diego population ages 60-79 years and will assess the epidemiologic associations of illumination with sleep and depressive symptoms. In a laboratory clinical trial, 135 volunteer subjects ages 60-79 will spend 5 nights and 4 days under controlled lighting conditions. With stratified randomization, 1/3 of subjects will be assigned to each of two experimental treatments using 3000 lux bright light for 4 hours each day. The final 1/3 of subjects will receive control 50 lux lighting and placebo dim red light treatment. Each subject will be monitored polysomnographically during the 8-hour sleep periods to determine the benefits of bright light treatment on objective sleep disturbances. Urine collections will be obtained to determine treatment effects on the circadian rhythm of melatonin excretion. Subjective sleep logs and mood self-ratings will assess subjective benefits of the treatments. By demonstrating casual benefits of bright light, this experiment will develop treatments with potentially high impact for millions of elderly Americans.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01AG012364-01
Application #
2053926
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG7-SSS-5 (04))
Project Start
1994-09-30
Project End
1999-06-30
Budget Start
1994-09-30
Budget End
1995-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1994
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California San Diego
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
077758407
City
La Jolla
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92093
Grandner, Michael A; Kripke, Daniel F; Naidoo, Nirinjini et al. (2010) Relationships among dietary nutrients and subjective sleep, objective sleep, and napping in women. Sleep Med 11:180-4
Niko Verdecias, R; Jean-Louis, Girardin; Zizi, Ferdinand et al. (2009) Attachment styles and sleep measures in a community-based sample of older adults. Sleep Med 10:664-7
Park, Doo Heum; Kripke, Daniel F; Louis, Girardin Jean et al. (2007) Self-reported sleep latency in postmenopausal women. J Korean Med Sci 22:1007-14
Jean-Louis, Girardin; Zizi, Ferdinand; Dweck, Monica et al. (2007) Ophthalmic dysfunction in a community-based sample: influence of race/ethnicity. J Natl Med Assoc 99:141-4, 147-8
Nievergelt, Caroline M; Kripke, Daniel F; Barrett, Thomas B et al. (2006) Suggestive evidence for association of the circadian genes PERIOD3 and ARNTL with bipolar disorder. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 141B:234-41
Kripke, D F; Youngstedt, S D; Elliott, J A et al. (2005) Circadian phase in adults of contrasting ages. Chronobiol Int 22:695-709
Nievergelt, Caroline M; Kripke, Daniel F; Remick, Ronald A et al. (2005) Examination of the clock gene Cryptochrome 1 in bipolar disorder: mutational analysis and absence of evidence for linkage or association. Psychiatr Genet 15:45-52
Loving, Richard T; Kripke, Daniel F; Elliott, Jeffrey A et al. (2005) Bright light treatment of depression for older adults [ISRCTN55452501]. BMC Psychiatry 5:41
Loving, Richard T; Kripke, Daniel F; Knickerbocker, Nancy C et al. (2005) Bright green light treatment of depression for older adults [ISRCTN69400161]. BMC Psychiatry 5:42
Jean-Louis, G; Kripke, D; Cohen, C et al. (2005) Associations of ambient illumination with mood: contribution of ophthalmic dysfunctions. Physiol Behav 84:479-87

Showing the most recent 10 out of 42 publications