Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42549269›Full record

Trial reportNature and science of sleep2026

Examining the Effects of Bright Light Therapy on Sleep and Resting-State Brain Activity in Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Crossover Pilot Study.

Han-Xing Li, Ming-Hui Tang, Qin-Jie Zhou, Jin Dai, Wei-Ye Xie, Meng-Xing Tao, Chun-Feng Liu, Yun Shen

Abstract readCase ReportsClinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Nature and science of sleep, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Han-Xing Li *Department of Neurology and Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, People's Republic of China.
Ming-Hui Tang *Department of Neurology and Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, People's Republic of China.
Qin-Jie ZhouDepartment of Neurology and Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, People's Republic of China.
Jin DaiThe People's Hospital of Songtao Miao Autonomous County, Tongren, 554100, People's Republic of China.
Wei-Ye XieDepartment of Neurology and Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, People's Republic of China.
Meng-Xing TaoDepartment of Neurology and Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, People's Republic of China.
Chun-Feng LiuDepartment of Neurology and Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0003-1436-4422
Yun ShenDepartment of Neurology and Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, People's Republic of China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Bright light therapy (BLT) seems to be a promising non-pharmacological intervention for sleep disturbance in PD. However, the neural mechanisms underlying BLT remain unclear. In this pilot study, we aimed to explore the clinical effects of BLT on sleep and to explore potential accompanying changes in brain activity and functional connectivity. Patients and methods: In this randomized, crossover, self-controlled pilot study, BLT was delivered using bright light at 10,000 lux, and dim light at 200 lux served as the control condition. Twenty-seven patients with PD were assigned to receive 30 days of BLT and 30 days of dim light therapy (DLT) in counterbalanced order, separated by a 30-day washout period. Clinical assessments of sleep, polysomnography (PSG) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) were performed at four time points: baseline, following the first intervention phase, following the washout period, and following the second intervention phase. Results: Compared with DLT, BLT was associated with a significantly greater reduction in Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) scores (P=0.012) and tonic REM sleep without atonia (RWA) (P=0.002). In resting-state fMRI, no clusters showed significant alterations in fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) or dynamic fALFF (dfALFF) after BLT compared to DLT. Functional connectivity (FC) analyses using the bilateral thalamus, bilateral calcarine cortex, and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex as seed ROIs revealed no clusters with significant between-intervention connectivity differences after multiple comparison correction. Conclusion: BLT improved excessive daytime sleepiness and reduced tonic RWA relative to control light in PD, but did not lead to detectable alterations in intrinsic activity or FC within a priori hypothesized thalamo-cortical or visual pathways. These findings warrant further validation in larger, long-term studies.

Indexed as

functional magnetic resonance imagingParkinson’s diseasesleep

Identifiers

PMID42549269
PMCPMC13431437

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.