Light is a potent stimulus for regulating circadian, hormonal, and behavioral systems. In addition, light therapy is effective for certain affective disorders, sleep problems, and circadian rhythm disruption. These biological and behavioral effects of light are influenced by a distinct photoreceptor in the eye, melanopsin-containing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), in addition to conventional rods and cones. We summarize the neurophysiology of this newly described sensory pathway and consider implications for the measurement, production, and application of light. A new light-measurement strategy taking account of the complex photoreceptive inputs to these non-visual responses is proposed for use by researchers, and simple suggestions for artificial/architectural lighting are provided for regulatory authorities, lighting manufacturers, designers, and engineers.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 76. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 08 March 2026.
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#701,874
of 33,779,198 outputs
Outputs from Trends in Neurosciences
#137
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Outputs of similar age
#5,954
of 372,388 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Trends in Neurosciences
#1
of 19 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 33,779,198 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,928 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 18.8. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 372,388 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 19 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.
