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Journal Club with Dr. Peter Attia | Effects of Light & Dark on Mental Health & Treatments for Cancer

Huberman Lab

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Impact of Light Exposure on Mental Health and Circadian Rhythms

Exposure to bright light from seasonal affective disorder lamps has been proven to be effective for treating seasonal affective disorder. However, the impact of light exposure at different times of the day, including nighttime, on mood and health is not fully understood. A new study suggests that both daytime light exposure and nighttime dark exposure play a powerful and independent role in mental health. The biological mechanisms behind this phenomenon involve intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells in the neural retina, which respond to two different types of light input and send information to the hypothalamus, where the master circadian clock resides.

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