BDNF and Alzheimer disease: Lastly, on the biochemical level, exposure of mice to dim light increases the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 1β (IL-1β) (Walker et al., 2020), which is a feature associated with AD and exposure of mice to dim light during the dark period decreases levels of the neurotrophic factor brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in a brain region relevant for AD (i.e., the hippocampus) (Walker et al., 2020).