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Journal Sleep biology
Discovery

Population Based Lighting Study on Older Adults

Hypothesis
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Editor's note
Light exposure shapes circadian rhythm strength in aging populations, directly affecting sleep consolidation, immune function, and cognitive decline—yet most older adults encounter poorly timed artificial lighting that desynchronizes these processes. This population-based evidence from three European cities moves beyond laboratory studies to map real-world lighting conditions against measurable health outcomes, filling a gap between circadian biology and public health policy. Geriatricians, sleep medicine specialists, and urban planners should track these findings as lighting becomes a tractable lever for healthy aging.

Source: ctgov · Azienda Usl di Bologna · COMPLETED · 2026-05-26

URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05676086

AI rationale (4/5, tier: emerging): Light-dark exposure on circadian entrainment is explicitly prioritised; population study with biological health outcomes in older adults.


The ENLIGHTENme project aims at collecting evidence about the impact of outdoor and indoor lighting on human health and wellbeing through the development and testing of innovative solutions and policies that will also counteract health inequalities in European cities. In particular, through an open-online Urban Lighting and Health Atlas, ENLIGHTENme will collect and systematize existing data and good practices on urban lighting and will perform an accurate analysis on the correlations among health, wellbeing, lighting and socio-economic factors in three pilot cities: Bologna (Italy), Amsterdam (The Netherlands), and Tartu (Estonia).

Published 2026-05-28 · Last kit-update 2026-05-28