Summary
Major: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniel Joyce
Research Topic: Developing a Light Exposure Questionnaire
Abstract: Humans evolved under the regular patterns of sunlight and darkness caused by the rotation of the earth about its axis. However, in modern times we experience significantly different light exposures, exposures that differ in timing, spectral composition, and intensities. These differences in light exposure are known to disrupt multiple aspects of human function, including sleep patterns, circadian rhythms, how we feel, and how we think (Joyce & Zeitzer, 2020, p. 41). Such disruptions are even known to be causal in disease mechanisms and can pose risk for obesity, diabetes, breast cancer, and multiple sclerosis (Warms et al., 2017). It is less well known how contemporary light exposures affect visual sensation and perception. Whilst devices exist to measure light exposures (‘radiometers’), they are often extremely expensive or bulky. Even fewer of these devices can be worn by humans to gather light exposure data over time, and remain expensive and so rarely deployed by the sleep clinician or psychologist (Joyce et al., 2019). The research aim is to trial a questionnaire to estimate human light exposures across the day. This questionnaire will be validated against a wearable light measuring device. We will determine differences in sleep timing and quality between participants who are exposed to different light patterns and identify light exposure behavioral patterns that are indicative of poorer quality sleep and poorer circadian (sleep- wake rhythm) performance.
New Scholar: 2021 cohort
Graduating with a Baccalaureate Degree: 2024