Chronobiology internationalMar 28, 2022

Bright light during night work may improve flexible thinking

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 25, 2026

Abstract

Reversal learning task performance was reduced towards the end of night shifts compared to the beginning.

Night work is associated with increased sleepiness and reduced vigilant attention.
Bright light interventions may improve performance on reversal learning tasks during night work.
Participants showed decreased performance on reversal learning tasks at 04:50 h compared to 00:20 h under both light conditions.
Performance deficits were less pronounced in bright light conditions compared to standard light at the end of night shifts.
Bright light may support cognitive flexibility in addition to enhancing vigilant attention during night work.

Simplified

Night work leads to sleepiness and reduced vigilant attention during work hours, and bright light interventions may reduce such effects. It is also known that total sleep deprivation impairs cognitive flexibility as measured by reversal learning tasks. Whether night work impairs reversal learning task performance or if bright light can mitigate reversal learning deficits during night work is unclear. In this counterbalanced crossover study (ClinicaTrials.gov Identifier NCT03203538), young healthy individuals completed a reversal learning task twice during each of three consecutive simulated night shifts (23:00-07:00 h). The night shifts were performed in a laboratory under a full-spectrum (4000 K) bright light (~900 lx) and a standard light (~90 lx) condition. Reversal learning task performance was reduced towards the end of the night shifts (04:50 h), compared to the first part of the night shifts (00:20 h) in both light conditions. However, with bright light, the reversal learning task performance improved towards the end of the night shifts, compared to standard light. The study shows that bright light may mitigate performance deficits on a reversal learning task during night work and implies that bright light interventions during night work may be beneficial not only for vigilant attention but also for cognitive flexibility.

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Bright light during night work may improve flexible thinking

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