pjas@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Paul Jasinski) (07/19/90)
I've been following this thread for a while. Would it be worthwhile to design
a lighting system in the bedroom then which provided an effective dose of
bright light shortly prior to the alarm time to wake up. How long a period of
time would this need to go on to 'reprogram' the body to wake up, and would
it be effective if it were not used every day? Can anyone think of any
adverse effects on the body? What kind of lite would be most effective
(flourescent?).
well, there are my questions. My personal feeling is that it could bring
people like me who aren't morning people to an earlier state of mental
alertness in the morning...it might be worth it to create such a device.
just some random thoughts-
paul jasinski (IN%"pjas@uhura.cc.rochester.edu")
| Taste the colours of the new day...May they never fade |hiebeler@heretic.lanl.gov (David Hiebeler) (07/19/90)
I'm glad to see this discussion, since I've been wondering about what the natural cycle for humans is. During summers, or other periods of time when I am working on research or independent projects and have no meetings to attend, I'll tend to get on a schedule that varies between 25 and 30 hours. It's nice, because when I'm tired I go to sleep, and when I wake up, I get up. I feel I'm most productive under these conditions, since I just go with my body's flow, so to speak. My bedroom has fairly thick curtains, so not a lot of light comes in when I end up sleeping during the day. Once in a while, I end up doing a "short" day (only staying away for say 8 hours), but when that happens I still don't seem to synchronize to either a day or night schedule, so I don't think it's exposure to external stimuli that do it to me. It does usually take me a few days to get onto a day-schedule, say if I want to attend some meetings or a conference.. usually I end up staying up longer than usual in order to get onto a day schedule (if I don't happen to be on a day schedule when the meeting occurs). I keep meaning to write down how long I stay awake and sleep, to get a feel for how much my daily cycle varies, but haven't gotten around to doing so. -- Dave Hiebeler | Internet: hiebeler@heretic.lanl.gov Complex Systems Group | Bitnet: userF3JL@rpitsmts MS B213, Theoretical Division | UUCP: crdgw1!automtrx!hiebeler Los Alamos National Laboratory / Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA
teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore) (07/20/90)
pjas@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Paul Jasinski) writes: >I've been following this thread for a while. Would it be worthwhile to design >a lighting system in the bedroom then which provided an effective dose of >bright light shortly prior to the alarm time to wake up. How long a period of >time would this need to go on to 'reprogram' the body to wake up, and would >it be effective if it were not used every day? Can anyone think of any >adverse effects on the body? What kind of lite would be most effective >(flourescent?). > >well, there are my questions. My personal feeling is that it could bring >people like me who aren't morning people to an earlier state of mental >alertness in the morning...it might be worth it to create such a device. Why not just leave the curtains open. You will find that you wake with the day, rather than needing an alarm. The main snag is that the natural day and the human day are not always in step. In Britain now, it is light at about 4:00 BST (sunrise at 5:00).