Background: 

Bright light therapy improves cognitive performance in healthy young men. We tested the hypothesis that bright light therapy could improve psychomotor speed in top level ice hockey players during competition period at seasonal darkness.

Methods: 

Psychomotor speed tests with audio and visual warning signals were performed before and after 24 days bright light or placebo treatments for Finnish National Ice Hockey League team (team Oulun Kärpät, age 25±5, range 17–33 years). Treatments were performed during seasonal darkness (October) in Oulu region (latitude 65 degrees north) whereas the strain of the players was also very high (10 matches during 24 days). A daily 12 min dose of bright light (n=11) or placebo (n=11) was administered every morning between 8–12 AM at home by a novel bright light device via the ear canals (Valkee NPT100). Reaction time and motor time were analysed separately from both psychomotor tests. Analysis of variance for repeated measures with time x group and interaction adjusted for age was performed for the measured variables.

Results: 

Motor time to visual warning signal decreased in treatment group from 127±43 to 94±26 ms, p=0.006, and did not change in placebo group 121±23 vs. 110±32 ms, p=0.077 (time x group interaction p=0.024). Reaction time to visual signal did not change in either group. Reaction or motor time to audio warning signal changed neither in treatment nor placebo groups after intervention.

Conclusion: 

Psychomotor speed, particularly motor time to visual warning signal, improves after bright light treatment in top level ice-hockey players during the competition season at the darkness time of the year.