Research Design Connections: Implications of Daylight Variation

Finnish researchers studied how seasonal sunlight variations influence mood.  Their findings, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, are useful in a variety of contexts, for example, for better understanding research data collected.  The investigators report that “the length of daylight affects the opioid receptors, which in turn regulate the mood we experience. Seasons have an impact on our emotions and social life. Negative emotions are more subdued in the summer, whereas seasonal affective disorder rates peak during the darker winter months. Opioids regulate both mood and sociability in the brain. In the study conducted at the Turku PET Centre, Finland, researchers compared how the length of daylight hours affected the opioid receptors in humans and rats. On the basis of the results, the duration of daylight is a particularly critical factor in the seasonal variation of opioid receptors.”

“Seasonal Variation in Daylight Influences Brain Function.”  2021.  Press release, University of Turku, https://www.utu.fi/en/news/press-release/seasonal-variation-in-daylight-influences-brain-function

Sally Augustin, PhD, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com).  Research Design Connections reports on research conducted by social and physical scientists that designers can apply in practice.  Insights derived from recent studies are integrated with classic, still relevant findings in concise, powerful articles.  Topics covered range from the cognitive, emotional, and physiological implications of sensory and other physical experiences to the alignment of culture, personality, and design, among others.   Information, in everyday language, is shared in a monthly subscription newsletter, an archive of thousands of published articles, and a free daily blog.   Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage:  Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research:  Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012).  She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.