The Effects of Blue Light on the Human Body

After my last post I began to wonder if the mystery lay not in the room but in the colour. For why is it called the BLUE Room and not some other colour?

Ever notice that people tend to be more attracted to blue eyes? When you're watching a movie, people with blue eyes tend to stand out more. Now not in all cases but certainly in a great number.


In a government document, there was a study done from 1995 to 2001 called the Blue Light Special, where they tested people on how blue light affects them. They found that the melatonin levels in the subjects were improved and higher/more regulated than when they were exposed to green light as well as in blue light, their senses were heightened.

(Bath Salts consist of the same chemical reaction in the body as blue light?!)

They say that the reaction time of the tested subjects was increased as well as their senses and memory. 

"Experimental subjects had quicker auditory reaction times and fewer lapses of attention under blue light than green, says Lockley. In further experiments using electroencephalography, blue wavelengths suppressed sleep-associated delta brainwaves and boosted the alpha wavelengths, which are related to alertness."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/

In another document that I found I came across the interesting notion of the fact that blue light can aid or hurt you. At low intensity it can be the best illumination to help you see but at high intensity, can damage your sight. Same goes for any other colour of light mind you but it takes a higher amount of intensity. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/figure/f3-ehp-118-a22/

"Why blue? Blue’s power to reset circadian rhythms is not intrinsic to the color. A photoreceptor for any color could have evolved to signal daylight to the suprachiasmatic nucleus. But the blues more easily penetrate the surface of the oceans—where life (and photoreceptors) likely first evolved—than do other visible wavelengths. The color balance of the sky may have helped to preserve blue’s clock-setting role throughout evolutionary history."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/figure/f5-ehp-118-a22/

In this research the fact that stands out to me the most and in that relates the most to the Blue Room, is the sensory and reaction time improvement. For what is any form of relationship if we are unable to respond, react to one another? I am hoping to further this research to see if there are any behavioral changes when exposed to blue light such as passion or anger. 

My conclusion so far is that in blue light (maybe from the reflection off the water, off a blue painted wall or the majestic moonlight) if ones senses are heightened, that would make them all that much more aware of someone else with them. With the added body heat in the room, our senses are only heightened that much more because our bodies associate being comfortable with being warm. Being comfortable and very much so alert, we can assume that one thing may lead to another where clothes are removed and neighbors (if any) complain of the noise made by this party of two.