Light and the Rhythms of Infant Life
The rhythm of life is driven by the presence and absence of light. Almost every living being on our planet has a biological clock that was first set ticking more than three billion years ago. During pregnancy a mother’s circadian rhythm controls that of her developing infant, but following birth human infants do not have their own fully functioning biological clock. The process of circadian rhythm maturation unfolds throughout the first year of life and can be observed in a number of infant physiological systems: hormone secretion, sleep consolidation, core-temperature patterning and clock- gene expression. Research into the development of circadian rhythms is therefore of interest to a variety of disciplines such as anthropology, biology, psychology, and health; these areas consider the phenomenon of circadian maturation from different perspectives.
The activities coordinated under the sub-theme of Light and the Rhythms of Infant Life will provide opportunities for multidisciplinary discussion of infant circadian development across these different fields, with the aim of identifying new research directions and fostering new collaborations for progressing research and funding applications.
As circadian rhythms respond to external environmental cues (zeitgebers), the most important of which is daylight, there is growing interest in the effects of daylight variability on the development of infant circadian rhythms. Researchers who are working with populations at a range of different latitudes have been invited to participate in this sub-theme. Confirmed international speakers include: Professor Hideya Kodama and Dr Hitomi Shinohara from Akita University, Japan; Dr Shoa-
Yu (Shelley) Tsai from the National Taiwan University; and Dr Megan Galbally from the University of Melbourne all of whom are actively involved in current studies of the development of light/dark driven circadian rhythms and the consolidation of sleep patterns in the first year of life.
The programme will be coordinated by Dr Alanna Rudzik, International Junior Research Fellow in Anthropology and Professor Helen Ball, Director of the Parent-Infant Sleep Lab. The activities comprise two events:
1. Light and the Rhythms of Infant Life Conference: this is an open public conference. The conference will be of interest to health professionals working with parents and infants, and anyone with an interest in infant sleep and development. Information regarding online booking and registration fees will be available via
www.dur.ac.uk/ sleep.lab. Early enquiries should be sent to
sleep.lab@
dur.ac.uk.
2. Infant Sleep and Circadian Development Workshop: this is an invited research conversation for international guests and UK academics actively involved in research in this area. Researchers who would like to express an interest in being invited to participate in this event should contact
alanna.rudzik@
durham.ac.uk. The workshop will be held at the Parent-Infant Sleep Lab, Queen’s Campus, in conjunction with Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing.
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