Blue light?

Question

Well, I don't intend this as a statement.

However, Belgian and Brit scientist (Liege & Surrey) kinda mapped the parts of the brain which are stimulated by... light. In short and very abruptly put, exposure to blue light makes you smarter (there were already known uses of this frequency in skin diseases treatment) and there already are preoccupations for utilizing blue light emanating electric bulbs in offices etc.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0001247

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLoS_ONE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_therapy

http://www.livescience.com/health/060201_blue_light.html

My question is - this stuff is relatively new but it seems to gain territory on the scientific fields. If someone would have talked about it let's say ten years ago, would he have been labeled as... just a fool? I mean, come on... light is just light, how could it have any influence on the brain?

Answer 1

If they had claimed it worked without being able to prove it, then yes, they would have ignored him.  Just as they would have ignored someone 2000 years ago if they said the Earth went around the Sun and couldn't prove it.  It doesn't matter if you're right - it matters if you can provide evidence to support yourself.  Coming up with the right answer for no good reason (say, guessing randomly on an exam) won't get you any credit because you had no reason to think that.

Answer 2

First, what does the use of blue light skin treatment have to do with blue light stimulating a certain part of the brain?  There are two different things at work here, so you can't say blue light is magical and has many applications.  The mechanism which causes it to be effective as a treatment of skin conditions could be quite different from that which is causing certain parts of the brain to be stimulated.

Second, according to the links you posted, the blue light doesn't make you more intelligent or smarter, it decreases fatigue.  This could have a very useful application in keeping drowsy people awake, but there's nothing magical to it.

I see no problem with light having an influence on a person's alertness.  It could be as simple as light=daytime=wake up or no light=night time=go to sleep.  I fail to see how this is anyway parallel to seeing some current paranormal claims as dubious (if this is what you're getting at).

Answer 3

What's new about blue light?  Ever stand in moonlight before?  On a full moon, everything looks blue....  blue light.  People have been worshiping the moon since the beginning of mankind!  The moon could heal you, give you wisdom and guidance....  think about it.

Now, think about the sun.  Even artificial sunlight has a direct effect on the brain.  Sometimes, people call sunlight "nature's prrozac" because it provides vitamin D which puts you in a happy mood.  

Strobe lights in clubs (or wherever) have been known to cause seizures, panic attacks and hysteria.  Again, a direct link to light and the brain.

As far as using light for medical reasons, when you think about all that stuff, it makes perfect sense to me!

Answer 4

I don't know about the effects of blue light....but I know that one time I had a terrible headache. I went outside and there was a huge,bright full moon. I looked at it a few minutes and my headache went away. It really surprised me. I wasn't expecting anything to happen.

Answer 5

The Blue Light

Your Ethos

Your Pathos

Your Porthos

Your Aramis

Your Brut Cologne

You're writing home

You are hopeless

Your hopelessness

Is rising around you, rising around you

You like it

It gives you something to do

In the day time

Hey buddy, you need a hobby

You are tired of moving forward

You think of the future

And secretly you piddle your pants

The puddle of piddle

Which used to be little

Is rising around you, rising around you

You like it

It gives you something to do

In the night time

Well, you travel to bars

You also go to Winchell's Doughnuts

And hang out with the Highway Patrol

Sometimes you'll go to a pizza place

You go toSharkey's to get that

American kind of pizza

That has the ugly, waxey, fake yellow kind

Of yellow Cheese on the top...

Then you go to Straw Hat Pizza,

To get all of those artificial ingredients

That never belonged on a pizza in the first place

(But the white people really like it...)

Oh well, you'll go anyplace, you'll do anything

Oh you'll give me your underpants

I hope these aren't yours, buddy...

They're very nice, though

You'll go to Santa Monica Boulevard,

You'll go to the Blue Parrot

No problem, you'll go anyplace

You'll do anything

Just so you can hang out with the others

The others just like you

Afraid of the future

(Death Valley Days, straight ahead)

The future is scary

Yes, it sure is

Well, the puddle is rising

It smells like the ocean

A body of water to isolate England

And also Reseda

The oil, in patches

All over Atlantis, Atlantis

You remember Atlantis

Donovan, the guy with the brocade coat,

Used to sing to you about Atlantis

You loved it, you were so involved then

That was back in the days when you used to

Smoke a banana

You would scrape the stuff off the middle

You would smoke it

You even thought you was getting ripped from it

No problem

Ah Atlantis, they could really get down there

The plankton, the krill

The giant underwater pyramid, the squid decor

Excuse me. Todd

The big ol' giant underwater door

The dome, the bubbles, the blue light

Light, light, light, light

Blue light blue light

The seepage, the sewage, the rubbers, the napkins

Your ethos, your pathos

Your flag hole, your port-hole

Your language

You're frightened

Your future

You can't even speak your own ******* language

You can't read it anymore

You can't write it anymore

Your language

The future of your language

Your meat loaf

Don't let your meat loaf

Heh, Heh, Heh

Your Micro-Nanette

Your Brut

Cologne

-Frank Zappa

Answer 6

Watch out where the huskies go, don't you eat the yellow snow.

Frank Zappa

Answer 7

Light Therapy: The future of medicine - I LOVE IT!

Technology is going to get better and SMARTER! AWESOME!

Answer 8

to some degree blue light is toxic, that is what most of the studies 10 years ago said.

I don't think it is really toxic.

most people do not like to much blue light,

I can take about 25 min. of blue before I start getting annoyed.

I wonder if it makes you smarter because you are so on edge around it.

or does blue light actually make you smarter and most people find that slightly toxic ?