The News:
Help For Insomnia Patients? Different Processes Govern Sight, Light Detection
ScienceDaily (Apr. 28, 2008) — A Johns Hopkins University biologist, in research with implications for people suffering from seasonal affective disorder and insomnia, has determined that the eye uses light to reset the biological clock through a mechanism separate from the ability to see.
The findings suggest that patients with trouble sleeping or seasonal depression — disorders that can be linked to lack of exposure to daylight — could benefit from development of easier, more available tests to determine if they are able to detect light properly for functions distinct from normal sight, said Samer Hattar, assistant professor of biology in the university's Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
"It seems that even if individuals have normal sight, they might be having a malfunction that is contributing to their inability to detect light, which can adversely affect their biological clocks," Hattar said. Read on...
The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Nature.
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