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 …
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