- Blue light from the sun is vital in regulating a person’s sleep-wake cycle.
- New research suggests the overall brightness of light plays a larger role in affecting a person’s “internal clock” than its color.
- The findings further our understanding on the effects of light on sleep quality and duration.
- Previous studies have shown that blue light from devices can damage the eyes and negatively impact sleep.
Of the seven colors in the visible light spectrum,
The majority of light coming from the sun is blue light, making it vital in helping to regulate a person’s sleep-wake cycle.
However, blue light is also the type of light emitted by computer screens, smartphones, tablets, and LED televisions.
Previous research shows that too much exposure to blue light from technology devices can potentially
Now, a new study by researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland suggests the overall brightness of light plays a larger role in affecting a person’s “
The study was recently published in the journal
First study author Dr. Christine Blume, a psychologist at the Centre for Chronobiology of the University of Basel in Switzerland, said the main effect of light on the human internal clock and sleep is mediated via specialized light-sensitive
Ganglion cells are a type of photoreceptor that helps detect light intensity, allowing them to play a role in the sleep-wake cycle.
The other two photoreceptors in the eye — rods and cones — convert light coming into the eye into electrical signals relayed to the brain, providing vision.
“If light consists solely of short wavelengths of 440 to 490 nanometres, we perceive it as blue,” Dr. Blume…
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