Lander Alicia C, Burge Malisa T, Thomas Brianna G, Phillips Andrew J K, McGlashan Elise M, Cain Sean W
Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute (Sleep Health), Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, 5042, Australia.
School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 16;15(1):13051. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-97370-z.
Gambling behaviour is a persistent and growing societal problem. An unexplored factor that may encourage gambling behaviour is the impact of circadian photoreception on cognitive processes underlying the behaviour. We investigated the influence of circadian photoreception on loss aversion in gambling by altering the blue content of light while maintaining the same visual brightness. Fifteen participants (age 18-27 years, M = 20.40, SD = 2.03) completed an economic decision-making task under blue-enriched and blue-depleted light, of equivalent visual brightness, on separate occasions in a randomised order. The task required participants to choose between taking a risky gamble of a positive and negative outcome, or a less risky guaranteed outcome. Hierarchical Bayesian Modelling was conducted to derive individual parameter estimates for loss aversion, and trial-by-trial performance was analysed using linear mixed models. The findings demonstrated that individuals were significantly less loss averse under blue-enriched light compared to blue-depleted light (β = - .43, 95% CI [- .82, - .04], p = .03). This study shows that exposure to light that preferentially targets circadian photoreception reduces loss aversion, which may encourage gambling behaviour.
赌博行为是一个持续存在且日益严重的社会问题。一个尚未被探索的可能鼓励赌博行为的因素是昼夜节律光接收对该行为背后认知过程的影响。我们通过改变光的蓝光含量同时保持相同的视觉亮度，研究了昼夜节律光接收对赌博中损失厌恶的影响。15名参与者（年龄18 - 27岁，M = 20.40，SD = 2.03）在视觉亮度相同的富含蓝光和缺乏蓝光的光线下，以随机顺序在不同时间完成了一项经济决策任务。该任务要求参与者在接受有正负结果的风险赌博或风险较小的保证结果之间做出选择。进行了分层贝叶斯建模以得出损失厌恶的个体参数估计，并使用线性混合模型分析逐次试验的表现。研究结果表明，与缺乏蓝光的光线相比，个体在富含蓝光的光线下损失厌恶显著降低（β = -0.43，95% CI [-0.82, -0.04]，p = 0.03）。这项研究表明，暴露于优先针对昼夜节律光接收的光线下会降低损失厌恶，这可能会鼓励赌博行为。
