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Science 16 January 1998:
Vol. 279. no. 5349, pp. 333 - 334
DOI: 10.1126/science.279.5349.333
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Research Commentaries

Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Research commentaries

BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS:
Enhanced: Tweaking the Human Circadian Clock with Light

Dan A. Oren and Michael Terman

The human body contains a clock, located in the brain, that controls the timing of functions such as sleep and body temperature. This clock can be reset by light shining on the eyes so that when days grow longer or shorter, human physiology will adapt appropriately. Now, in a report in the same issue, Campbell and Murphy show that the light signal to reset the clock can be applied by another route, through the skin on the back of the knees. In their commentary, Oren and Terman discuss the ways in which this unexpected mechanism may work and how this finding could affect the way depressed patients are treated with light.

D. A. Oren is at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Yale University School of Medicine, West Haven, CT 06516, USA. E-mail: dan.oren{at}yale.edu. M. Terman is at New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. E-mail: mt12{at}columbia.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
No Melatonin Suppression by Illumination of Popliteal Fossae or Eyelids.
G. Jean-Louis, D. F. Kripke, R. J. Cole, and J. A. Elliott (2000)
J Biol Rhythms 15, 265-269
   Abstract »    PDF »
Regulation of Mammalian Circadian Behavior by Non-rod, Non-cone, Ocular Photoreceptors.
M. S. Freedman, R. J. Lucas, B. Soni, M. von Schantz, M. Muñoz, Z. David-Gray, and R. Foster (1999)
Science 284, 502-504
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Photoentrainment in Mammals: A Role for Cryptochrome?.
R. J. Lucas and R. G. Foster (1999)
J Biol Rhythms 14, 4-10
   Abstract »    PDF »
Managed care and psychotherapy for schizophrenia..
D. A. OREN (1999)
Am J Psychiatry 156, 336-337
   Full Text »


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