LIGHTCAP · Light, Cognition, Attention, Perception

LIGHTCAP: Light, Cognition, Attention, Perception

Cognition, Attention and Perception (CAP) are crucial for professional success, core to educational success, essential to productive, safe and healthy functioning. Yet cognition is hard work, attention is fragile, and perception is selective. Recent research has shown that light directly and indirectly helps CAP, in particular via the activation of a recently discovered photoreceptor in the human eye. Light triggers this photoreceptor, but large-scale migration to cities, increased time spent indoors, and our 24-hour economy have impacted on our light exposure. Disturbance of sleep/wake cycles, fatigue and cognitive failure, mood disorders and even cancer pathologies may be the consequences of ignoring findings on human light processing. LIGHTCAP was an international, interdisciplinary, cross-sectional and translational training program, with experts from neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, chronobiology, psychology and lighting technology. Our young researchers were trained to look beyond the borders of their discipline and understand the implications of their findings. Our consortium was unique in its approach to study non-image forming effects of light (NIF) from different perspectives: architectural, animal and human biological, ecological and neuropsychological. The project targeted questions around non-image forming effects of light on Cognition, Attention, and Perception. But our investigations also covered themes as health and sleep, as well as those on safety. New methods in light dosimetry and simulation were developed, innovative research protocols and measurements were employed, and under-investigated groups were targeted. We gained important insights on the biological mechanisms of the non-image forming (NIF) impact of light, and investigated interaction with ageing, disease, stress, arousal and light characteristics. We translated our insights into implications and recommendations for design and research and contemplated how we can support designers to realize better light environments, and which challenges still lie ahead in the field of lighting research. For details we direct the reader to the published and forthcoming manuscripts.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз