Impact of Light on Mood

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Depression
• Interventions: Other: Light exposure

• Registration Number: NCT06027944
• Lead Sponsor: VA Palo Alto Health Care System

Brief Summary

The investigators are examining whether the content of a visual scene impacts the antidepressant effects of light or if this impact is solely mediated by the intensity of the light.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2023-08-23
• Status Verified: 2023-09
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-09-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-09-05
• Study First Posted: 2023-09-07
• Last Update Posted: 2023-09-07
• Study Start: 2023-10-01
• Primary Completion: 2024-09-30
• Study Completion: 2024-09-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 20

Inclusion Criteria

• Aged 18-60
• Mild depressive symptomatology

Exclusion Criteria

• No depressive symptomatology
• Severe depressive symptomatology
• Active or unstable medical condition
• Diabetes

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Scene	Light exposure	High fidelity scene of nature emitted from a monitor
Scrambled scene	Light exposure	The same pixels that are used to create the scene in the alternate arm will be randomly scrambled on the monitor

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in mood	15 minutes	Change in subjective mood as recored by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The PANAS ranges 10-50 on a positive mood scale (higher = more positive) and 10-50 on a negative mood scale (higher = more negative)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in systolic blood pressure (SBP)	15 minutes	Change in SBP (mm Hg) as measured by finger plethysmography
Change in heart rate variability (HRV)	15 minutes	Shift in the ratio of the power of low frequency to high frequency components in heart rate variability
Change in fast brain electrical activity	15 minutes	Change in the beta power spectrum (12.5-30 Hz) of the electroencephalogram (brain waves, measured in microvolts)
Change in sympathetic activity	15 minutes	Sympathetic activity will be imputed through the galvanic skin response (GSR). Change in skin conductance (the electrical activity on the skin) will be measured in microsiemens

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

VA Palo Alto Health Care System; 🇺🇸 Palo Alto, California, United States