{"doi":"10.3389/frsle.2023.1268379","title":"Timing of outdoor light exposure is associated with sleep-wake consolidation in community-dwelling older men","abstract":"Introduction: A consolidated sleep-wake pattern is essential for maintaining healthy cognition in older individuals, but many suffer from sleep fragmentation that exacerbates age-related cognitive decline and worsens overall mental and physical health. Timed light exposure (light therapy) has been explored as a countermeasure, but mixed results have been obtained. To determine whether the timing of light exposure is important for sleep-wake consolidation, we analyzed the natural light diets of a cohort of community-dwelling older men. Methods: = 877). Results: Our findings revealed that higher sleep-wake fragmentation correlated with poorer physical and mental health and reduced cognition. Moreover, reduced daytime light exposure was associated with increased sleep-wake fragmentation. Interestingly, morning and evening light exposure (>1,000 lux) were not useful in distinguishing between low and high sleep-wake fragmentation scores, while increased afternoon light exposure showed much better discrimination. Specifically, optimal discrimination between low and high fragmentation occurred 6.7 h after habitual sleep offset. This suggests that afternoon light therapy might be more efficient in consolidating sleep and wake in older adults, particularly in those with low-amplitude circadian rhythms. Discussion: This study highlights the significance of properly-timed light exposure in promoting consolidated sleep and cognitive health among older individuals. Tailored light-based strategies may have the potential to enhance physical, mental, and cognitive well-being in the aging population.","journal":"Frontiers in Sleep","year":2023,"id":328122,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":24,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9561,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":327141,"name":"Sonia Ancoli‐Israel","orcid":"0000-0002-0662-8865","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":242503,"name":"Kristine E. Ensrud","orcid":"0000-0002-9069-3036","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":17008,"name":"Susan Redline","orcid":"0000-0002-6585-1610","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":245151,"name":"Katie L. Stone","orcid":"0000-0003-2797-3171","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":425961,"name":"Jamie M. Zeitzer","orcid":"0000-0001-6174-5282","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1049447,"name":"Renske Lok","orcid":"0000-0003-1684-5625","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":66,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:08:52.196069Z","pmid":"41426466","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}