Sunlight helps prevent drowsiness

Leaving the sun in the room during the day will not only cheer you up but also help you stay awake and avoid the afternoon sleepiness.

Sunlight affects brain function and physiological factors such as biological rhythm, heart rate, hormone release. Professor Gilles Vandewalle and colleagues at Liege University, Belgium, have learned how effective exposure to light with brain activity during the day is effective.

They gave a group of people light sun exposure in the morning for 21 minutes, while taking pictures of the brain. The results showed that these people were not only alert, but the response in some areas of the brain was also enhanced. These brain regions are involved in attention, and the cognitive process and preventing sleepiness when in the dark.

The situation of tired people in the afternoon at offices is almost everywhere in the world, from areas with a lot of sunshine like equator to regions in the north.

"Everywhere, people are almost always in the house. They should be exposed to more sunshine," Vandewalle said.

MT