Periodic patterns in environmental light, physiology and behaviour: Measurement, modelling and evaluation of diurnal and circadian phenomena in biology

18 and 19 November
Virtual meeting via Zoom

​Organised by:
Manuel Spitschan (University of Oxford) ​
Ben Lambert (University of Oxford) 
Helen Byrne (University of Oxford) 
Nayantara Santhi (Northumbria University)

​Overview

Temporal organization is a fundamental aspect of biology that acts on multiple time scales and is orchestrated by complex interactions between internal clock mechanisms and external factors. Circadian rhythmicity is ubiquitous and tightly bound to the 24h solar day. In mammals, circadian rhythms are generated by a set of core ‘clock’ genes and synchronised by neural and endocrine pathways originating from a master clock (the suprachiasmatic nucleus), located in the hypothalamus. The master clock sets internal time using temporal cues or ‘zeitgebers’, which are external stimuli such as patterns of light and darkness given by solar radiation and, more recently, artificial illumination. One of the most observable consequences of circadian organisation is the sleep-wake cycle, which delineates periods of sleep from periods of wakefulness. Traditionally, laboratory studies have been used to examine circadian rhythms including the sleep-wake cycle, but the field is now increasingly using wearable technology to design ‘real world’ studies. 
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In this workshop, we will focus on the interface between circadian biology, physics and mathematical modelling and explore novel ways of describing this periodic phenomenon.

Who should attend?

The workshop is designed to be accessible to academics from a wide range of disciplines and career stages, with one specific aim being to encourage an “outsider” perspective on human circadian data. The workshop will be of relevance to biologists, physicists, neuroscientists, psychologists, and mathematical and statistical modellers

Format

This workshop will focus on the following themes:

Theme 1: Non-visual effects of light: from physics to physiology
In addition to vision, light affects human physiology and behaviour via the pathway that connects melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion eye cells with the circadian clock in the brain. To examine processing of light by the circadian clock, different aspects of light such as its intensity, duration and spectral composition are manipulated and the consequent impact on physiology studied. The goal of this session is to bring together physicists, optical engineers working on sculpting and crafting light, and circadian biologists to better characterise the non-visual effects of light on physiology and behaviour.

​Theme 2: Modelling periodic phenomena in circadian biology
At present, large amounts of data are generated using actigraphy. However, a variety of analyses are used to extract circadian rhythmicity from these data, including parametric and non-parametric techniques. Increasingly, algorithms are being applied to actigraphy data to distinguish ‘rest-activity’ classifications and ‘sleep-wake ‘classifications, the latter with varying degrees of success. The goal of this session is to explore the analysis of biological rest-activity data and to develop a shared understanding of the best practices for data analysis.

Audience engagement 

​ADVAnCe - Actigraphy Data Visualization and Analysis Challenge: Workshop participants are invited to participate in an actigraphy data visualisation challenge of a specific open-access data set. Participants will be able to opt into the data challenge and contest at registration and will, at a later stage, confirm that they can present their results in a special session on Day 2 of the workshop. An independent jury comprised of four people will then judge the contributions of the contestants. There will be two specific categories: “Most innovative visualisation” and “Most innovative reproducible visualisation”. The winner in each category will receive a £200 prize (voucher), and the runners-up will receive £100 each in each category. For more information about the challenge, please visit https://github.com/senscircneuro/actigraphy-viz-challenge. We ask you to indicate whether you would like to participate in this part of the workshop on the registration form.  Please note, the challenge is due on 15 November 2021, 23:59 on the latest time zone on Earth. No late submissions will be considered. If you have any further questions, please emailmanuel.spitschan@psy.ox.ac.uk. 

Priority-setting participatory workshop: In this participatory workshop, we will explore emerging and novel themes of research, with a specific focus on collaborative opportunities.
 
Social session: We will use the Wonder platform to facilitate a social event. Bring your beverages and snacks!

Programme

Please note, all times are in UK time (GMT)

Day 1	Thursday 18 November
10.50	Dr Manuel Spitschan (University of Oxford) Introduction
Session 1	Physiological data and phenomena
11.00-11.20	Dr María-Ángeles Bonmatí-Carrión (University of Murcia) 'Light, sleep and circadian rhythms: Ambulatory circadian monitoring'
11.20-11.40	Danny Ball (UCL) 'Light, Sleep and Circadian Rhythms in Blind individuals'
11.40-12.00	Dr Svetlana Postnova (University of Sydney) 'Modelling effects of light on the circadian system: timing, irradiance, and spectrum'
12.00-12.30	Panel discussion
12.30-13.00	Lunch break
13.00-14.00	Keynote: Prof. Elizabeth Klerman (Harvard Medical School) 'Modeling the human circadian system: History, principles, and applications'
Session 2	Controlling and modelling responses to light
​14.00-14.20	​​Babak Zandi (Technical University Darmstadt) 'Crafting light to control physiology: Lighting engineering perspective'
​14.20-14.40	Prof. Anne Skeldon (University of Surrey) 'Modelling human sleep and circadian rhythmicity: designing practical light interventions for improved sleep'
​14.40-15.00	Dr Gerrit Hilgen (Northumbria University) 'Understanding global retinal function: from mice to humans'
​15.00-15.30	​Panel discussion
​​15.30-16.30	​Social session via Wonder
Day 2 ​	​Friday, 19 November 2021
10.50	Dr Nayantara Santhi (Northumbria University) Introduction​
Session 3	Periodic phenomena in circadian biology: From data to analysis
11.00-11.20	​Dr Gregory Hammad (University of Liège)​ 'Open source tools for actigraphy analysis'
​11.20-11.4o	​​Dr Olivia Walch (University of Michigan) 'From MATLAB to App Store: Circadian rhythms, modeling, and consumer wearables'​
​11.40-12.00	​Prof. Tanya Leise (Amherst College)​ 'Developing Apps for Circadian Analysis with Undergraduates'
​12.00-12.20	​Dr Bharath Ananthasubramaniam (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin)​ '​Comparing rhythmic patterns: Pitfalls and solutions'
​12.20-13.00	​Panel discussion
​13.00-13.30	Lunch break
Session 4	​Interactive session
​13.30-14.30	Priority setting discussions ​
14.30-15.20	​ADVAnCe - Actigraphy Data Visualization and Analysis Challenge: Results and winner
15.20-15.30	Closing remarks