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Bright artificial light produces subsensitivity to nicotine.
1Department of Psychiatry, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210-1228.
Life Sciences
|January 1, 1988
Summary
Bright artificial light therapy, used for seasonal depression, alters the body's response to nicotine. Two weeks of light exposure changed core body temperature regulation, suggesting a subsensitivity in nicotinic mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Chronobiology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Seasonal depression is treated with bright artificial light.
- Nicotinic mechanisms are involved in core temperature regulation.
- Antidepressant treatments can alter physiological responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of bright artificial light on the thermic response to nicotine in rats.
- To determine if light exposure alters nicotinic receptor sensitivity related to thermoregulation.
Main Methods:
- Rats were exposed to bright artificial light (11,500 lux) for two weeks.
- Thermic response to nicotine was measured at baseline, week one, and week two.
- A control group was exposed to lower intensity light (300 lux).
Main Results:
- Bright light exposure significantly altered the thermic response to nicotine over two weeks.
- The response shifted from hypothermic to hyperthermic.
- Lower intensity light (300 lux) did not blunt the hypothermic response.
Conclusions:
- Bright artificial light induces subsensitivity in the nicotinic mechanism regulating core body temperature.
- This effect is similar to that observed with other antidepressant treatments.
- Light therapy may modulate neurotransmitter systems involved in mood and temperature regulation.