Acute and cumulative light exposure differentially influence mood in healthy adults

Abstract

Light influences mood in both clinical and experimental settings, yet it remains unclear how ambient light exposure relates to mood in daily life, which dimensions of mood are most sensitive to light and over what timescales these associations emerge. Here, we combined continuous personal light monitoring using wearable light sensors with repeated assessments of multiple dimensions of mood and affect, including self-reported mood ratings and cognitive measures of affective bias, alongside physiological monitoring in 49 healthy adults living under naturalistic conditions. Brighter light was consistently associated with more positive self-reported mood. Associations emerged over distinct temporal windows, with greater melanopic irradiance during the preceding 30 min associated with increased feelings of energy. Importantly, this association remained significant after accounting for alertness, physical activity and sleep-related covariates, suggesting that it is not solely explained by the established alerting effects of light. In contrast, several positive mood dimensions, including happiness, feeling accompanied, enjoyment, motivation and relaxation, were associated with light accumulated over longer periods (60-240 min). Furthermore, happiness, feeling accompanied, enjoyment and relaxation, but not energy, were also associated with greater cumulative daily exposure to light above 250 lux melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance (EDI), a threshold proposed to support healthy daytime light exposure. Behavioural measures of affective bias showed no robust associations with light exposure. Together, these findings indicate that everyday light exposure is associated with distinct dimensions of mood over different timescales, highlighting a complex relationship between light and affect in daily life. Significance StatementLight is a promising target for improving mental health, yet little is known about how everyday light exposure relates to mood outside laboratory and clinical settings. Using wearable light sensors and repeated mood assessments in healthy adults living under naturalistic conditions, we show that different dimensions of mood are linked to light exposure over distinct timescales, from recent exposure to cumulative light history. Importantly, the association between recent light exposure and feelings of energy remained independent of physical activity and sleep-related factors. These findings demonstrate that effects of light on mood are dynamic and multidimensional, highlighting the need to move beyond simple measures of total light exposure and informing future efforts to design healthier light environments that support emotional wellbeing.