In a groundbreaking stride toward enhancing the health and wellbeing of older adults, a pioneering study is set to explore the potent influence of light exposure on aging populations. The research, designed as a randomised, double-blind trial, introduces a state-of-the-art, chronotherapeutic mobile health (mHealth) intervention aimed at optimizing light exposure patterns for individuals aged 60 years and above in Singapore. This innovation, branded as LightSPAN, has the potential to revolutionize how we understand and manipulate environmental factors to foster healthier aging processes, particularly through the lens of circadian biology.
Light’s role in regulating circadian rhythms—our internal biological clocks—has been firmly established across numerous studies. These rhythms influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone secretion, cognitive function, and overall metabolic health. However, age-related changes often impair circadian regulation, leading to diminished sleep quality, mood disturbances, and increased susceptibility to chronic diseases. By modulating light exposure, especially at critical times of the day, the circadian system can be reset or fine-tuned, promoting better physiological and psychological outcomes. The LightSPAN trial ambitiously leverages this concept via a mobile health platform, integrating chronotherapeutic principles into daily behavioural changes.
Chronotherapy, traditionally associated with timing medication administration to circadian phases, is now being expanded into behavioral interventions that target environmental cues, such as light. The essence is to align external signals with the body’s internal timing mechanisms, optimizing physiological functions. The LightSPAN intervention uniquely employs sophisticated algorithms embedded within mobile applications to guide users on optimal light exposure schedules. The technology personalizes recommendations, adapting to individual lifestyles and environmental contexts, thereby facilitating adherence and maximizing therapeutic efficacy.
Singapore’s rapidly aging population underscores the criticality of such innovations. With increased life expectancy comes a rise in age-associated conditions, many of which are exacerbated by circadian misalignment. The LightSPAN trial’s focus on adults aged 60 and above not only targets a vulnerable demographic but also situates the research within an urban environment characterized by distinct light pollution challenges and lifestyle patterns. This context offers a rich testing ground for mobile-based, chronotherapeutic interventions, potentially setting a global precedent.
The trial’s rigorous design—as a randomized, double-blind study—ensures the highest standards of scientific validity and reliability. Participants will be randomly allocated to either the LightSPAN intervention or a control group, with neither the subjects nor the researchers aware of the group assignments during the study. This methodology mitigates biases and strengthens the causal inferences between the chronotherapeutic intervention and health outcomes. Outcomes are anticipated to encompass multifaceted health indicators, including sleep quality, cognitive performance, mood, and cardiovascular parameters.
Technologically, the LightSPAN mHealth application integrates wearable sensors capable of monitoring real-time light exposure and physiological responses, such as heart rate variability and activity patterns. These data streams enable dynamic adjustments to the intervention protocols, fostering a highly responsive and individualized treatment pathway. By capitalizing on mobile technology, the study circumvents traditional barriers to intervention implementation, such as accessibility and compliance, particularly pertinent for older adults who may face mobility or transportation challenges.
One of the distinguishing features of LightSPAN is its chronotherapeutic timing strategy, which is rooted in circadian biology research. Light exposure timing is critical: morning bright light can advance circadian phases, promoting earlier sleep onset and improved alertness during the day, while evening light has the opposite effect. The intervention carefully calibrates these exposures to optimize circadian phase alignment, potentially mitigating issues like insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness—common complaints in older populations that degrade quality of life.
Beyond sleep and circadian regulation, the trial explores broader systemic effects of optimized light exposure. Emerging evidence suggests that circadian alignment influences immune function, glucose metabolism, and even gene expression patterns linked to aging and longevity. By fine-tuning light-driven circadian cues, LightSPAN may elicit cascading benefits that extend to robust immune responses, better glycaemic control, and delayed onset of age-related diseases such as dementia or cardiovascular events.
The research team, comprising experts in geriatrics, chronobiology, digital health, and behavioural science, embodies a multidisciplinary approach essential for such complex investigations. Their integrated expertise allows for comprehensive assessment of the intervention’s efficacy, adherence, and psychological acceptability. Moreover, the inclusion of behavioural change techniques within the mHealth platform addresses motivational barriers in older adults, which are often overlooked but critical for sustainable health improvements.
Another technical innovation lies in the trial’s data analytics framework. Machine learning algorithms will analyze longitudinal data to identify individual response patterns and predictors of success or failure. This personalized data-driven analytic approach transcends traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ health interventions and aligns with contemporary precision medicine trends. It also facilitates ongoing optimization of the LightSPAN algorithm throughout and beyond the trial duration.
The potential public health implications of LightSPAN are profound. Should the intervention prove efficacious, it can be scaled rapidly given its foundation in mobile technology, making it accessible not only in Singapore but also in other urban centers globally facing similar demographic changes. The cost-effectiveness of such non-pharmacological interventions further enhances their appeal amid escalating healthcare costs associated with aging populations.
There are, however, challenges inherent in implementing such a trial. Ensuring high compliance rates among older participants in a technology-driven intervention demands careful usability design and sustained engagement strategies. Environmental variability, such as differing indoor lighting conditions and outdoor exposure opportunities, may introduce complexities in standardizing intervention delivery. The researchers have anticipated these issues, incorporating adaptive and context-sensitive features within the mHealth platform to accommodate individual and environmental differences.
The LightSPAN trial is also notable for its ethical rigor, safeguarding participant privacy and data security within the digital health framework. Older adults represent a potentially vulnerable population, necessitating thorough informed consent processes and transparent communication about data usage. The research design emphasizes these ethical imperatives, aligning with global standards for digital health research involving human subjects.
As the trial progresses, its findings are poised to enrich the growing body of knowledge on the intersection of circadian science, aging biology, and digital therapeutics. Beyond validating the specific LightSPAN intervention, insights gained may stimulate further innovations in chronotherapeutic strategies applicable to other populations and conditions, such as shift workers, patients with mood disorders, or chronic illnesses affected by circadian dysregulation.
In summary, LightSPAN represents a visionary fusion of cutting-edge chronobiology, mobile health technology, and behavioral science, tailored to the complex needs of the aging population. By optimizing light exposure—a fundamental environmental cue—this intervention seeks to harmonize circadian rhythms, thereby enhancing sleep, cognitive function, and overall health in older adults. Its success could pave the way for a new era of personalized, time-based wellness interventions, making the management of age-related health challenges more accessible, effective, and engaging.
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Murukesu, R., Alkaff, Z.A., Del Villar, D. et al. Protocol for a randomised, double-blind trial of a chronotherapeutic mobile health (mHealth) behaviour change intervention to optimise light exposure among older adults aged ≥ 60 years in Singapore (LightSPAN). BMC Geriatr (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-026-07105-6
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1186/s12877-026-07105-6
Keywords: chronotherapy, mobile health, mHealth intervention, light exposure, circadian rhythms, older adults, aging, behavioural change, sleep optimization, digital health, randomized controlled trial
Tags: behavioral chronotherapy for healthchronotherapy for aging populationscircadian biology and agingcircadian rhythm regulation in older adultsenvironmental factors in healthy agingimproving sleep quality in seniorslight therapy for mood and cognitionLightSPAN mobile health trialmobile health intervention for seniorsmobile health technology in geriatric careoptimizing light exposure for elderlyrandomized double-blind trial in seniors
