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Abstract:
The human retina plays a critical role in regulating our circadian clock. This clock coordinates our daily physiological and behavioural rhythms, including sleep-wake cycles, hormone secretion, and metabolism. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in understanding how the human retina communicates with the circadian clock and how this information can be translated into practical applications to improve human health and well-being. Since the discovery of the melanopsin-containing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) in the late 1990s, knowledge about light’s non-visual (circadian and neuroendocrine) effects has received significant interest in a range of fields, including architectural lighting design and metrology. This talk introduces the mechanisms underlying the interaction between the eye and the circadian clock, how light can be measured in a physiologically-relevant way, and which strategies can be used to optimise our light exposure through structural or behavioural means to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness.
