Abstract
Purpose: A recent study suggests that transcranial brain targeted light treatment via ear canals may have physiological effects on brain function studied by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques in humans. We tested the hypothesis that bright light treatment could improve psychomotor speed in professional ice hockey players.Methods: Psychomotor speed tests with audio and visual warning signals were administered to a Finnish National Ice Hockey League team before and after 24 days of transcranial bright light or sham treatment. The treatments were given during seasonal darkness in the Oulu region (latitude 65 degrees north) when the strain on the players was also very high (10 matches during 24 days). A daily 12-min dose of bright light or sham (n = 11 for both) treatment was given every morning between 8 and 12 am at home with a transcranial bright light device. Mean reaction time and motor time were analyzed separately for both psychomotor tests. Analysis of variance for repeated measures adjusted for age was performed.Results: Time × group interaction for motor time with a visual warning signal was p = 0.024 after adjustment for age. In Bonferroni post-hoc analysis, motor time with a visual warning signal decreased in the bright light treatment group from 127 ± 43 to 94 ± 26 ms (p = 0.024) but did not change significantly in the sham group 121 ± 23 vs. 110 ± 32 ms (p = 0.308). Reaction time with a visual signal did not change in either group. Reaction or motor time with an audio warning signal did not change in either the treatment or sham group.Conclusion: Psychomotor speed, particularly motor time with a visual warning signal, improves after transcranial bright light treatment in professional ice-hockey players during the competition season in the dark time of the year.
Highlights
Bright light treatment has various positive psychophysiological effects
In Bonferroni post-hoc analysis, motor time with a visual warning signal decreased in the bright light treatment group from 127 ± 43 to 94 ± 26 ms (p = 0.024) but did not change significantly in the sham group 121 ± 23 vs. 110 ± 32 ms (p = 0.308)
As evidence of brain reactivity to non-visual light, Starck et al showed that immediate transcranial bright light treatment increased resting state brain activity of secondary visual and sensorimotor networks when compared with sham treatment in healthy subjects studied by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (Starck et al, 2012)
Summary
Bright light treatment has various positive psychophysiological effects. An acute improvement of cognitive performance in healthy subjects at night (Campbell and Dawson, 1990; Badia et al, 1991; Daurat et al, 1993; Cajochen et al, 2000; Lockley et al, 2006) and during the day (Phipps-Nelson et al, 2003; Ruger et al, 2006). Chellappa et al showed that cognitive performance, and reaction time, in healthy young men is improved acutely by blue-enriched bright light treatment (Chellappa et al, 2011). Ten out of 13 patients suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) achieved full remission after 4 weeks of transcranial brain-targeted bright light treatment via the ear canals (Timonen et al, 2012). As evidence of brain reactivity to non-visual light, Starck et al showed that immediate transcranial bright light treatment increased resting state brain activity of secondary visual and sensorimotor networks when compared with sham treatment in healthy subjects studied by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (Starck et al, 2012). The same visual and sensorimotor networks show altered resting state activity in subjects suffering from winter-type SAD, triggered annually by darkness (Abou Elseoud et al, 2014)
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