Thu, Apr 11
|Virtual Event
Lighting for Older Adults
The spectral quality of lighting in buildings has a significant impact on the regulation of human biological clocks. As people age, they experience progressive neurodegeneration, which affects their visual and non-visual performances.
Time & Location
Apr 11, 2024, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EDT
Virtual Event
About the event
Abstract
The spectral quality of lighting in buildings has a significant impact on the regulation of human biological clocks. As people age, they experience progressive neurodegeneration, which affects their visual and non-visual performances. While good lighting quality is essential for everyone, older people particularly need well-designed lighting to promote sleep quality, hormonal control, and mood regulation. This is because older adults often spend a significant amount of time indoors, deprived of beneficial natural light.
This talk will focus on the effects of lighting quality on sleep, activity, cognitive decline, hormonal control, and mood regulation for older people, with a specific emphasis on Alzheimer's and related dementia. By using circadian lights, we can significantly improve the quality of life of older adults and even offer non-pharmacological intervention for specific diseases.
A fragmented sleep-activity cycle increases the risk of nighttime falls among dementia patients, with as many as 85% of them experiencing a fall at least once a year. Purpose-designed LED lights with sensor controls can help older adults gain better posture control and minimize fall risks.
Speaker Spotlight: Venkat Venkataramanan
Venkat Venkataramanan is the Chief Scientific Officer at McRae Imaging, Toronto. He is also an Industry Professor at the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering at McMaster University, Canada. He is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of Lumentra Inc. Previously, he was the Director, Scientific Operations at the Impact Centre, University of Toronto, from 2006 to 2020. He was an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Toronto Metropolitan University from 2008-2011.
Venkat has a doctoral degree in Physics and held various research and teaching positions in the UK, India, Portugal, Japan, and China. He is the current Treasurer of teh CRSC.
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