Prof. Dr. Manuel Spitschan, Head of the Assistant Professorship of Chronobiology & Health, was invited by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee to present his expertise on the facts of artificial light and its effects on human health to members of the British Parliament on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. The hearing took place online, in front of members of the committee, and was broadcast live on the internet.
"Light has a fundamental effect on humans. Electric light in the evening in particular can disrupt our internal clock and have a negative impact on our health as well as our wellbeing," the health scientist explained. The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee is a committee of the House of Lords. It was founded in 1999 and has the task of advising and monitoring the government on matters of science and technology.
The committee was particularly interested in the question of how good the empirical data is regarding the effects of light on human health and whether public policy in the UK needs to be changed on this. Prof. Spitschan explained to the committee that knowledge on the biological mechanisms by which light controls the circadian clock is mostly conducted using isolated experiments and that there are still far-reaching unanswered questions that need to be tested in real-life conditions.
"In the last two decades, basic neuroscientific research has made very great progress in our understanding of the effects of light on humans and has shed light on physiological mechanisms of stimulus processing. Now we need to clarify to what extent these findings can be applied outside the laboratory and whether they can be incorporated into political and regulatory decisions," explains Prof. Spitschan.
Other tasks of the committee, in addition to investigating scientific and technological issues, include reviewing government policies and programmes in these areas, advising the government on science and technology issues, and proposing new legislation.
To the homepage of the Assistant Professorship of Chronobiology & Health
To the homepage of the joint working group at TUM and MPI for Biological Cybernetics
To the recording of Manuel Spitschan's hearing before the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Manuel Spitschan
Assistant Professorship of Chronobiology & Health
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24544
e-mail: manuel.spitschan(at)tum.de
Text: Bastian Daneyko
Photos: UK parliament/private