We are looking for 12 participants to participate in our new pilot study. Recruitment has started. Please sign up now via the link below, if you are interested. The study runs from the 12. April to 11. May 2024. For more information, please read the text below and our flyer: GoGarmin Recruitment Flyer. The biological clock…
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…
Kick off meeting Healthy Living as a service in Martiniplaza. Our goal in this project is to contribute with knowledge on 24-hour rhythms and sleep. Michelle Luxwolda and Rieks Hoekman organised a presentation of Chrono@Work in a booth. The audience could indicate their sleep pattern to create a chronotype distribution in a creative way!
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…
Marijke Gordijn from Chrono@Work will be moderating two great speakers at deLIGHTed Talks Good Light – Good Life in Wintertime online on November 3rd, 2021: Prof. Till Roenneberg will explain how chronobiologists think about daylight saving time and what would be the most optimal choice for our health. Dr. Manuel Spitschan will explain how to…
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…
As vice president of the Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms, I want to advertise our upcoming congress. The website to register is open. Last year, we organized the 30th meeting in Groningen, the Netherlands, which was a great success with the largest audience ever. Let’s make the next meeting in Chicago a success…
Linda Geddes, journalist in the UK, published an article in the Guardian titled “No more snooze button: a complete guide to waking up feeling fantastic“. “Now the clocks have gone back and the days are getting shorter, it can be hard to get out of bed. But, from dawn simulators to a regular wakeup time,…
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
To examine whether acute changes in cognitive empathy might mediate the impact of light therapy on mood, we assessed the effects of a single light-therapy session on mood and cognitive empathy in 48 premenstrual women, including 17 who met Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool criteria for moderate-to-severe premenstrual syndrome / premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMS/PMDD). Using a…
Woelders T., Beersma D.G.M., Gordijn M.C.M., Hut R.A. & Wams E.J. Daily light exposure patterns reveal phase and period of the human circadian clock. J. Biol. Rhythms 2017
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0748730417696787
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…
Marijke Gordijn CEO of Chrono@Work will give a lecture on Wednesday, July 13th at the satellite symposium entitled ARE MOOD DISORDERS CHRONOBIOLOGICAL DISORDERS? This satellite symposium is organized by the Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms on the first day of the 18th Annual Conference of The International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD16) held…
Marijke Gordijn CEO of Chrono@Work will give a lecture on Thursday 30th of June entitled: “How to set light and dark for personal and work schedules” as part of the teaching course of SLTBR in New York. http://sltbr.org/event/sltbr-meeting-2016/
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,…
Geerdink, M., Walbeek, T. J., Beersma, D. G. M., Hommes, V., & Gordijn, M. C. M. Short Blue Light Pulses (30 Min) in the Morning Support a Sleep-Advancing Protocol in a Home Setting. J. Biol. Rhythms 31(5): 483 – 497 (2016).
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…
