Abstract
BackgroundPossible physiological causes for the effect of sunlight on mood are through the suprachiasmatic nuclei and evidenced by serotonin and melatonin regulation and its associations with depression. Cognitive function involved in these same pathways may potentially be affected by sunlight exposure. We evaluated whether the amount of sunlight exposure (i.e. insolation) affects cognitive function and examined the effect of season on this relationship.MethodsWe obtained insolation data for residential regions of 16,800 participants from a national cohort study of blacks and whites, aged 45+. Cognitive impairment was assessed using a validated six-item screener questionnaire and depression status was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Logistic regression was used to find whether same-day or two-week average sunlight exposure was related to cognitive function and whether this relationship differed by depression status.ResultsAmong depressed participants, a dose-response relationship was found between sunlight exposure and cognitive function, with lower levels of sunlight associated with impaired cognitive status (odds ratio = 2.58; 95% CI 1.43–6.69). While both season and sunlight were correlated with cognitive function, a significant relation remained between each of them and cognitive impairment after controlling for their joint effects.ConclusionThe study found an association between decreased exposure to sunlight and increased probability of cognitive impairment using a novel data source. We are the first to examine the effects of two-week exposure to sunlight on cognition, as well as the first to look at sunlight's effects on cognition in a large cohort study.
Highlights
It is widely accepted that climate and season affect psychological characteristics [1,2]
This study aimed to explore if sunlight exposure, measured by insolation, is associated with cognitive impairment
Due to prior evidence regarding relationships with cognitive function, we considered the following as potential confounders: sex, geographic region, population density, income, education, race, smoking, alcohol use, Body Mass Index (BMI), hypertension status, high choles
Summary
It is widely accepted that climate and season affect psychological characteristics [1,2]. Recent research has shown that serotonin and melatonin regulation, mechanisms that are involved in the relationship between sunlight and light therapy on mood, are involved in cognition, which suggests that cognitive function may be influenced by light [3,4,5]. Serotonin and other mechanisms involved in circadian rhythms are associated with cognitive functioning, and are regulated by the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), which are susceptible to the effects of differing intensities and patterns of environmental illumination [6]. Possible physiological causes for the effect of sunlight on mood are through the suprachiasmatic nuclei and evidenced by serotonin and melatonin regulation and its associations with depression. We evaluated whether the amount of sunlight exposure (i.e. insolation) affects cognitive function and examined the effect of season on this relationship
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