Red white and blue - bright light effects in a diurnal rodent model for seasonal affective disorder.

We report results of experiments with six groups of sand rats that were kept under various photoperiods and light treatments, and subjected to behavioral tests related to emotions: forced swim test, elevated plus maze and social interactions. Exposure to either intense wide-spectrum white light or to blue light equally ameliorated depression-like behavior whereas red light had no effect. Bright wide-spectrum white light treatment had no effect on animals maintained under neutral photoperiod, meaning that light exposure was only effective in the pathological-like state. The resemblance between the effects of bright white light and blue light suggests that intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) are involved in the underlying biology of SAD and light therapy. PMID: 30983429 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Chronobiology International - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: Chronobiol Int Source Type: research