Increased volume of the left hippocampal dentate gyrus after 4 weeks of bright light exposure in patients with mood disorders: a randomized controlled study

Abstract Bright light exposure (BL) induces neurogenesis in the rat hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). We had previously conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which a 4-week period of BL in healthy participants resulted in increased volume of the left DG-head. This study aimed to investigate the effects of BL on the DG in patients with mood disorders. A 4-week RCT was conducted in which patients with mood disorders were randomly assigned to either a BL group (10,000 lx) or dim light exposure group (DL group; 50 lx). All patients underwent clinical assessment and magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and after the intervention. The study registration number is UMIN000019220. Our final sample included 24 patients (BL group, n = 12; DL group, n = 12). A significant effect of time and group was detected in the volumes of the left DG-head (F (1, 62.9) = 11.6, partial η2 = 0.35, p = 0.003) and left DG-total (left DG-total = left DG-head + left DG-body; [F (1, 86.8) = 6.5, partial η2 = 0.23, p = 0.02]). Additionally, the BL group demonstrated a significant increase in the volume of the left DG-head (95% CI: -5.4 to -1.6, d = 1.2, p = 0.002) and left DG-total (95% CI: -6.3 to -1.5, d = 1.06, p = 0.005) as well as a positive correlation between the percentage change in the volume of the left DG-total and the percentage change in the scores of the mood visual analogue scale (r = 0.58, p = 0.04). In conclusion, our study results suggest that compared to DL, BL leads to a significantly greater increase in the left DG volume in patients with mood disorders. This increase in the left DG volume may be associated with mood improvement in the patients.