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Newborn intensive care units and perinatal healthcare: on light’s imprinting role on circadian system stability for research and prevention

Journal of Perinatology volume 33, pages 824–825 (2013)Cite this article

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With interest we read the thoughtful considerations related to light and ‘Health consequences of shift work and implications for structural design’.1 We wish to complement information and provide suggestions for future research and for practical conditions in newborn intensive care units (NICUs) and beyond. In doing so, we provide empirical evidence and speculation with regard to what Figueiro and White1 (p. S19) write: ‘… visual and circadian needs of staff are likely to be quite different from those of patients’.

Empirically, the master biological clock within the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) interacts with light at very early developmental stages of mammals. According to experimental evidence, the melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) as critical interfaces of environmental light with circadian systems are functional immediately after birth.2, 3 From a developmental point of view, it is thus suggested that the non-image-forming circuits may contribute to ‘circadian vision’4 before the ‘classical’ image-forming pathways work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute and Policlinic for Occupational Medicine, Environmental Medicine and Prevention Research, UNIKLINIK KÖLN, University Hospital of Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    T C Erren, K Trautmann & M M E Salz

  2. Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    R J Reiter

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  1. T C Erren
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  2. K Trautmann
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  3. M M E Salz
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Correspondence to T C Erren.

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Erren, T., Trautmann, K., Salz, M. et al. Newborn intensive care units and perinatal healthcare: on light’s imprinting role on circadian system stability for research and prevention. J Perinatol 33, 824–825 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2013.107

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