%A MAO Tianxin, XIONG Xiao, LI Jinghua, YAO Ying, YANG Jian, LI Xiaoran, ZHOU Guofu %T Effects of light on alertness %0 Journal Article %D 2018 %J Advances in Psychological Science %R 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2018.01213 %P 1213-1222 %V 26 %N 7 %U {https://journal.psych.ac.cn/adps/CN/abstract/article_4374.shtml} %8 2018-07-15 %X

Besides affecting vision, light exerts powerful non-visual effects on a wide range of biological functions and behaviors, such as modulating circadian rhythm, melatonin suppression, and acute alertness. Comprehensive studies on the effect of light on human circadian rhythm now lead more researchers to pay attention to the effects of light on acute alertness. Here, we summarized (1) different measures of alertness, (2) factors that may influence the effect of light on alertness like illuminance, exposure, timing, wavelength and color temperature, (3) promising applications of the alerting effect of light in some affective disorders, circadian rhythm, and office lighting, and (4) future directions focusing on investigation of neural mechanisms, optimal lighting characteristics, and potential confounds.