Effects of Afternoon and Evening Light on Teenagers' Melatonin Levels, Alertness, Sleepiness and Sleep

Light exposure during adolescence seems to be the critical component of a vicious circle. Due to the maturation of sleep-wake regulatory systems in combination with progressively ill-timed exposure to light and early school start times, teenagers suffer from the accumulation of sleep depth during school days. Therefore, the proposed study investigates whether the physiological and alerting effects of late evening light exposure in adolescents depend on the intensity of light exposure in the preceding afternoon (primary endpoint: evening melatonin concentration). The investigators aim to describe dose-response relationships, where the "dose" is the preceding (real-world applicable) afternoon light intensity (\< 10 lx, \~100 lx, or \>1000 lx EDI, 4-hour duration), and the "responses" are the adolescents' physiological and alerting responses to evening light exposure (\~100 lx melanopic EDI, 4.5-hour duration). By this route, the researchers can explore whether increasing afternoon light exposure is a feasible target for ameliorating the detrimental effects of artificial light at night and promoting healthier sleep-wake regulation during adolescence.