For many people, the arrival of spring is a relief: the cold is over, the sun is starting to shine again, and we feel more eager to go outside. For about 3 out of every 100 Dutch people, however, this change is even more relevant; for them, it marks the end of their annual recurring…
The results of our study on the effects of near-infrared light (NIR) on health and well-being in people suffering from sleep loss is published today. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, the effects of three NIR light (850 nm) doses (1, 4, or 6.5 J·cm−2) were examined against the placebo. Exposure was presented five days…
Chrono@Work received the good news that funding was granted for a project in the topic PCH (personalized & connected health) Ecosystem from the University Medical Center Groningen. This is a European funded project under the umbrella of SNN. In the project, Chrono@Work, supported by the University of Groningen, will develop a mobile application to use…
Last week, I was asked several times to talk again about the role of the biological clock for our health and the detrimental effects of Daylight Saving time. It is all about healthy sleep and the right light at the right time. Prevention of sleep problems is the most important thing. But if you suffer…
Can we bring in a bit of sunshine? After 2 successful rounds of the Light Study last summer and winter, we have decided to extend the study into near-infrared light one more time to the coming winter period. This is the first-ever long-term study into the effects of pulsed near-infrared (NIR) light on human well-being…
Chrono@Work is proud to participate in the EU Horizon2020 Research Project “ENLIGHTENme”: Exploring the Impact of Urban Lighting and Indoor Lighting on Health and Wellbeing, which started with a kick-off meeting on March 4th– 5th, 2021. For the full press release please read more here: 210224_EnlightenME_Press_Release_C@W
On January 8th, Marijke Gordijn from Chrono@Work and Roelof Hut from the University of Groningen were interviewed by EditieNL about the effects of the COVID-19 related restrictions on sleep. Colleagues recently published that on average people sleep longer and later during the lockdown. However, shortage of sleep and sleeping problems have serious health effects. EditieNL…
Can we bring in a bit of sunshine? After 2 successful rounds of the Light Study last summer and winter, we have decided to extend the study into near-infrared light one more time to the coming winter period. This is the first-ever long-term study into the effects of pulsed near-infrared (NIR) light on human well-being…
The COVID-19 pandemic poses a serious health threat to the world population. In response, governments are implementing a variety of new policies including self-quarantine, self-isolation and social distancing. While medically necessary to limit spread, these new social policies can disrupt many of the stabilizing factors in our lives which support mental health. In close collaboration,…
Chrono@Work will be present at several symposia, classes and congresses in the upcoming period. Please have a look and subscribe if you are interested in the topic. 16th April 20:00h in Leeuwarden: Studium Generale Het Einde van de Zomertijd en Dan? 18th April whole day in Zeist: Medilex symposium on ‘Slaapproblemen en -stoornissen bij mensen met…
In the Dutch Television program ‘Dokters van Morgen‘ on October 17th, Antoinette Herzenberg pays attention to the importance of a healthy sleep. As part of the program, five volunteers went camping during one weekend. Chrono@Work supported the program with scientific input and the analysis of light exposure, rest-activity rhythms and melatonin patterns. Following up on…
Wams, E.J., Woelders, T., Marring, I., Van Rosmalen L., Beersma, D.G.M., Gordijn, M.C.M. & Hut R.A. Linking light exposure and subsequent sleep: a field EEG study in humans. SLEEP 40 (12): zsx165 (2017)
https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsx165
The Dutch media are highly interested in the new teaching package Charge Your Brainzzz. Please read the item “50% of the adolescents do not sleep enough…but in this way you will get them in bed” (in Dutch) that RTL published online on September 27th.
After a year of hard work we are there! The teaching materials for the package Charge Your Brainzzz are ready. Charge your Brains teaches highschool students about sleep. On 27 September, Chrono@Work and the Dutch Brain Foundation will launch this special educational package. Charge Your Brainzzz is a modern package with activating learning tools including…
Wednesday September 27th, Chrono@Work and the Brain Foundation will launch the new teaching material Charge Your Brainzzz in the Corpus Congress Centre in Leiden. Charge Your Brainzzz consists of a package of three lessons about sleep regulation and sleep disorders, with activating learning tools, animations (to be used during class) and a serious game developed…
Meesters, A.N.R., Partonen, T., Maukonen M., Männistö, S., Gordijn, M.C.M., Meesters, Y., Is there a relation between vegetarianism and Seasonal Affective Disorder? Neuropsychobiology 74: 202 – 206 (2017).
https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/477247
Aan het Rot, M., Miloserdov, K., Buijze, A.K.F., Meesters, Y., Gordijn, M.C.M. Premenstrual mood and empathy after a single light therapy session. Psychiatry Research 256: 212-218 (2017).
http://www.psy-journal.com/article/S0165-1781(16)31613-4/fulltext
Gordijn M.C.M. Slapen als onderdeel van een gezonde leefstijl. In: “Gestoorde slaap: een onschuldig probleem?” Lancel M., Koenraadt F. en ‘t Lam K. (eds). Wolf Legal Publishers. pp 13-28. (2016).
Chronotherapeutic interventions Marijke Gordijn of Chrono@Work co-authored a Dutch paper on Chronotherapeutic interventions in Psychiatry. She wrote this paper together with 3 colleagues with whom she also started Chronotherapy Network Netherlands (www.cnn.nl). The paper was published in the continuing education journal Psyfar. Since 2006, Psyfar focusses on educating and testing psychiatrists, hospital pharmacists, geriatrics specialists,…
Meesters Y., Gordijn, M.C.M., Spaans H.P., Verwijk E. Chronotherapeutische interventies. Psyfar 11(4): 18-25. (2016).
Seasonal affective disorder, winter type: current insights and treatment options Marijke Gordijn from Chrono@Work co-authored a review paper on Seasonal Affective disorders. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), winter type, is a seasonal pattern of recurrent major depressive episodes most commonly occurring in autumn or winter and remitting in spring/summer. The syndrome has been well-known for more…
Chrono@Work’s employee Marina Giménez is the first author of a paper describing a study on the effects of a new dynamic room lighting system on sleep of patients admitted to a cardiology ward. Irregular 24 h light/dark cycles with night-time light exposure and a low amplitude are disruptive for sleep, mood and circadian rhythms. Nevertheless,…
LIght therapy to shift the biological clock has been shown to be effective, but in most cases studies are carried out in well controlled laboratory studies and with long duration light pulses. In practice, light therapy should consist of an easy to apply lighting regime to which people at home will adhere and with clear…
The therapy of first choice for treating Seasonal Affective Disorder, winter type, is light treatment. Meta analyses have shown that light therapy in the morning has the highest chance to be successful. In the Netherlands, common practice is 30-45 minutes of bright light therapy in the morning for five consecutive days. If given early in…
Light pulses of 30 min. in the morning on three consecutive days, in a home setting, in combination with dim light during the evenings, can be part of an efficient phase advancing chronotherapy protocol to shift the biological clock. It is well known from controlled laboratory experiments, that light in the morninge induces phase shifts of the biological…
Under the umbrella of the Dutch Association of Sleep-Wake Research (NSWO) and the Sleep Medicine Association Netherlands (SVNL) the first Dutch Sleep Congress, SLEEP 2016.will be organized on the 3-4 November, 2016 in the Heerlickheijd, Ermelo. The conference is a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between different departments working in the field of Sleep, e.g. pulmonologists, neurologists,…
Trouble getting out of bed, a constant yearning for chocolate, craving Netflix more than sex… The shortest day might be over, but especially in January and February we massively encounter the winter blues. The University of Groningen figured that in roughly 500.000 Dutch people the winter blues takes on such a violent form that they…
A new photometric measure of light intensity that takes into account the relatively large contribution of the ipRGCs to the non-image forming (NIF) system was recently proposed. We set out to revise publications reporting on alertness scores as measured by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) under different light conditions in order to assess the extendibility…
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…
