Randy Nelson, professor of psychology and neuroscience, exposed two groups of mice to light - one group to 16 hours a day, representing summer and the other, to only eight hours, representing winter.
According to Nelson, the brains got smaller in the winter, wish less exposure to light.
Not only did the size of the brain decrease, so did the quality of brain function.
Nelson reported, "These are connections to other neurons, there are a lot of them in the long-day brains. In the short-day brains, the animals (had more) difficulty in learning and memory."
Researchers tested the animals' learning by putting them in colored water where the mice had to find a platform to get out. The short-day mice had trouble finding the platform, but the mice exposed to more light found the platform faster.
WCMH-TV in Columbus reported more research is needed, but this study indicates the same may be true in humans.
Similar studies may help researchers better understand why some humans suffer from dysfunctions such as seasonal affective disorder.
