Light at night, clocks and health: from humans to wild organisms

Dominoni, D. M., Borniger, J. C., Nelson, R. J. (February 2016) Light at night, clocks and health: from humans to wild organisms. Biol Lett, 12 (2). p. 20160015. ISSN 1744-957X (Electronic)1744-9561 (Linking)

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26888917
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0015

Abstract

The increasing use of electric lights has modified the natural light environment dramatically, posing novel challenges to both humans and wildlife. Indeed, several biomedical studies have linked artificial light at night to the disruption of circadian rhythms, with important consequences for human health, such as the increasing occurrence of metabolic syndromes, cancer and reduced immunity. In wild animals, light pollution is associated with changes in circadian behaviour, reproduction and predator-prey interactions, but we know little about the underlying physiological mechanisms and whether wild species suffer the same health problems as humans. In order to fill this gap, we advocate the need for integrating ecological studies in the field, with chronobiological approaches to identify and characterize pathways that may link temporal disruption caused by light at night and potential health and fitness consequences.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions > biological clock
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > organs types and functions > metabolism
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Borniger lab
Depositing User: Adrian Gomez
Date: February 2016
Date Deposited: 03 Jan 2020 19:53
Last Modified: 03 Jan 2020 19:53
PMCID: PMC4780560
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/38858

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