UA Researchers Find Blue Light Improves Memory

By Heather van Blokland
Published: Friday, September 22, 2017 - 5:05am
Updated: Friday, September 22, 2017 - 12:18pm

Blue light is what shines on a bright, sunny day. It also beams from TVs and tablets. And it keeps you awake, which can be a bad thing at night. But it can be a great thing in the morning.

Blue light suppresses melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy. A group of researchers from University of Arizona’s neuroscience lab is looking a bit further, exploring how blue light releases certain processes in the brain that trigger memory.

Anna Alkozei worked on the experiments that found when people were exposed to blue lights shortly after learning a list of words, recall was far better. 

“What this might mean is that blue light could be used as a way or as a tool to improve learning and memory in a lot of different groups of people. So I could imagine this being used as a tool for students when they are learning test material or it could be used as a way to improve memory training in elderly individuals," Alkozei said.

The study is a first of its kind and is being published in the journal PLoS One.

Science