Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Translational Sensory and Circadian Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany.
J Biol Rhythms. 2023 Feb;38(1):15-33. doi: 10.1177/07487304221126785. Epub 2022 Nov 11.
The human circadian system responds to light as low as 30 photopic lux. Furthermore, recent evidence shows that there are huge individual differences in light sensitivity, which may help to explain why some people are more susceptible to sleep and circadian disruption than others. The biological mechanisms underlying the differences in light sensitivity remain largely unknown. A key variable of interest in understanding these individual differences in light sensitivity is biological sex. It is possible that in humans, males and females differ in their sensitivity to light, but the evidence is inconclusive. This is in part due to the historic exclusion of women in biomedical research. Hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle in women has often been cited as a confound by researchers. Attitudes, however, are changing with funding and publication agencies advocating for more inclusive research frameworks and mandating that women and minorities participate in scientific research studies. In this article, we distill the existing knowledge regarding the relationship between light and the menstrual cycle. There is some evidence of a relationship between light and the menstrual cycle, but the nature of this relationship seems dependent on the timing of the light source (sunlight, moonlight, and electric light at night). Light sensitivity may be influenced by biological sex and menstrual phase but there might not be any effect at all. To better understand the relationship between light, the circadian system, and the menstrual cycle, future research needs to be designed thoughtfully, conducted rigorously, and reported transparently.
人体的昼夜节律系统对低至 30 勒克斯的光作出反应。此外，最近的证据表明，人们对光的敏感性存在巨大的个体差异，这可能有助于解释为什么有些人比其他人更容易受到睡眠和昼夜节律紊乱的影响。光敏感性个体差异的生物学机制在很大程度上仍不清楚。理解这种光敏感性个体差异的一个关键变量是生物性别。在人类中，男性和女性对光的敏感性可能不同，但证据尚无定论。这部分是由于女性在生物医学研究中被历史上排除在外。女性在月经周期中的激素波动经常被研究人员认为是一个混杂因素。然而，随着资助机构和出版机构提倡更具包容性的研究框架，并要求女性和少数族裔参与科学研究，态度正在发生变化。在本文中，我们总结了现有关于光与月经周期之间关系的知识。有一些证据表明光与月经周期之间存在关系，但这种关系的性质似乎取决于光源的时间（阳光、月光和夜间电灯光）。光敏感性可能受到生物性别和月经周期的影响，但也可能根本没有任何影响。为了更好地理解光、昼夜节律系统和月经周期之间的关系，未来的研究需要精心设计、严格进行，并透明地报告。
