Do colors really affect us physically and spiritually?
Color Professor responds…
“Red makes the heart beat faster,” and just like in this sentence, all colors are said to have physical and mental effects. But there is no scientific data to support them. We are beginning to understand the effects of colors on human psychology in this century.
For example, we know that the ear is the center of balance of the body and 2 basic functions of the eye. The retina in the back of the eye has light-sensitive cells known as cones, and this region sends an electrochemical signal to the brain area known as the visual cortex where the images we see are formed. We also know that some retinal ganglion cells react to light by sending signals to the hypothalamus - the central brain region - which do not produce visual images.
Not Vision, Light
The hypothalamus is an important part of the brain that controls the body's self-regulated aspects, including temperature, sleep, hunger, and circadian rhythms. If we are exposed to light in the morning - especially the blue / green light - this causes the release of the hormone cortisol that stimulates and arouses us and also prevents the release of melatonin. Late in the night when the amount of blue light in the sunlight diminishes, melatonin enters the bloodstream and makes this person lethargic.
Retinal cells that do not form an image between the eye and the hypothalamus are selective to the short wavelengths of the visible spectrum in blue and green. In fact, this clearly means; our physical and mental state is clearly influenced by colors.
Research says that exposure to bright lights of short wavelength before going to bed, in other words, the use of phones and tablets negatively affects sleep quality. Sleep quality is rapidly decreasing in modern society and this problem brings along diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes and obesity. The side effects of blue / green light are often measured, but more research is needed to know the effects of other colored lights.
Experiencing Colors
Professor Dr. Stephen Westland leads the Experience Design research group at the University of Leeds. The lighting laboratory was specifically designed to evaluate the effects of light on human behavior and psychology. In the UK the lighting system is unique, we can emit colored light at any wavelength in a room. Recent research shows that colored light has a small effect on heart rate and blood pressure. Namely; red light increases heart rate, blue light lowers. The impact is small, we know it, but this finding was confirmed in a report published in 2015 by a group of similar studies in Australia.
In 2009, blue lights were placed at the end of the platforms on Tokyo's Yamanote railway line to reduce suicide. The success of these lights (suicides decreased by 74% at stations where blue lights were installed) resulted in similar colored lighting on Gatwick Airport train platforms. All this effort was based on the claim that blue light could make people calmer, but there is little scientific evidence to support these claims: a three-year study by doctoral researcher Nicholas Ciccone in the group confirms that we still do not have valid and sufficient information about the effect of colored lighting. Similar studies continue in the lab to explore the effects of colors on creativity, students' classroom learning and sleep quality.
The discovery of the visual path that does not create an image has accelerated the researches on how we respond physiologically and psychologically to the colors around us. The use of colored lighting, which has increased as a result of advances in LED technology, has led to rigorous research in this area.
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