Marijke Gordijn is researcher at the University of Groningen and entrepreneur. Using her company Chrono@Work she puts knowledge from the field of chronobiology on the market. She tells why daylight saving time should be abolished. Chronobiology got its name in the ‘60s, In Germany research was performed inside a bunker, an area secluded from information…
This study examined associations of chronotype and age with shift-specific assessments of main sleep duration, sleep quality and need for recovery in a cross-sectional study among N ¼ 261 industrial shift workers (96.6% male). Logistic regression analyses were used, adjusted for gender, lifestyle, health, nap behaviour, season of assessment and shift schedule. Shift workers with latest versus earliest…
Gaspas L., Van de Werken M., Johansson A.S., Moriggi E., Owe-Larsson B., Kocks J.W.H, Lundkvist G.B., Gordijn M.C.M., Brown S.A. Human cellular differences in cAMP – CREB signaling correlate with light-dependent melatonin suppression and bipolar disorder. European Journal of Neuroscience, 40: 2206-2215 (2014).
Various lines of evidence suggest a mechanistic role for altered cAMP-CREB (cAMP response element – binding protein) signaling in depressive and affective disorders. However, the establishment and validation of human inter-individual differences in this and other major signaling pathways has proven difficult. Here, we describe a novel lentiviral methodology to investigate signaling variation over long periods of…
Knapen S.E., Van de Werken M., Gordijn M.C.M., Meesters Y. The duration of light treatment and therapy outcome in seasonal affective disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 166: 343-346. (2014).
Background: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is characterized by recurrent episodes of major depression with a seasonal pattern, treated with light therapy (LT). Duration of light therapy differs. This study investigates retrospectively whether a single week of LT is as effective as two weeks, whether males and females respond differently, and whether there is an effect of expectations as…
Giménez M.C., Beersma D.G.M., Bollen P., Van der Linden M.L., & Gordijn M.C.M. Effects of a chronic reduction of short-wavelength light input on melatonin and sleep patterns in humans: Evidence for adaptation. Chronobiology International, 31: 690-697. (2014).
Light is an important environmental stimulus for the entrainment of the circadian clock and for increasing alertness. The intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells in the retina play an important role in transferring this light information to the circadian system and they are elicited in particular by short-wavelength light. Exposure to short wavelengths is reduced, for instance, in elderly…
Dutch symposium – Light and the ageing brain.
Dutch Symposium – Light and the ageing brain.
