Dim Light May Make Us Dumber

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A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan finds that spending too much time in dimly lit rooms and offices may actually change the brain’s structure and hurt one’s ability to remember and learn. After studying the brains of Nile grass rats ,they found that being exposed to dim light caused the rats to lose nearly 30 percent of capacity in the hippocampus, and performed poorly on the spatial task they had previously trained on. The rats exposed to bright light, on the other hand, showed significant improvement on the spatial task. Further, when the rodents that had been exposed to dim light were then exposed to bright light for four weeks (after a month-long break), their brain capacity – and performance on the task - recovered fully.

Well at least now I know what's been wrong, it's not me, it's my lighting. At least it's good to hear that the problem is reversible, that is if the problem is similar in humans, as I've been darn near nocturnal for most of my life.

Soler said sustained exposure to dim light led to significant reductions in a substance called brain derived neurotrophic factor – a peptide that helps maintain healthy connections and neurons in the hippocampus – and in dendritic spines, or the connections that allow neurons to "talk" to one another. "Since there are fewer connections being made, this results in diminished learning and memory performance that is dependent upon the hippocampus," Soler said. "In other words, dim lights are producing dimwits."
 
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Dim bulbs make for Dim Bulbs? Who'd a thunk it. I personally think better at night in dim light, but maybe I'm just wired backwards.
 
"Dim lights, thick smoke and loud, loud music" ( bluegrass duo Flatt & Scruggs)

This year "they" say you can eat all the eggs you want too, so be sure to do that because next year "they" might say eating more than two eggs a week is not good for your health

THRESHIN said:
I must be stupid as a stick by now...
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and exactly how stupid is that? :barefoot:
 
Sorry but, I get annoyed and irritated with the constant bright florescent light all the day long. I love having background standard lighting when I get home and do not need bright lighting, it is very relaxing.
 
Interesting. I can't stand bright light. Gives me a headache. I have always been a lamp light fella. This might account for my bad marriage decisions....
 
I live up north so we have darkness for most of the winter. I recently found some 2452 lumen E27 LED light bulbs and I have to say I love them. Pop a few of them in the room and it's almost like sun light. The average 10W LED bulb makes 840 lumens... :)

Suckers cost 18 bucks a piece though. Enlightment doesn't come cheap.
 
I remember for a time there was a company in Vancouver pushing an LED panel you would put at your desk to shine a brighter light at you all day. It was supposed to help with energy levels, memory and mood. That was 2006 so I guess they were ahead of their time!
 
I read over that study and I really feel that the data is exremely limited. It's incredibly hard to quantify what their 30% measurement would actually equate to in real world application. There could be other factors facilitating the restructuring of brain functions to better equip it for these low light environments. While this may lead to some preliminary talking points, I find it hard to give a definitive stamp. You honestly have to repeat studies over and over to even see if any of your data even holds any merit whatsoever. While their may be some truth to their argument, I'd be more interested in what other areas are improved regarding brain activity for reduced light environments. Certainly areas of the brain supporting sensory function would require improvements.
 
I prefer dimmer lights. Super bright operating room lights give me a headache. I do my best work with just a table lamp pointed at the wall.

Now if I need to seriously study, it needs to be brighter. But not stupid bright.

The best studying of course is outdoors and sunny. Sadly, that also requires drinking beer and hence the studying isn't so great. I but have enjoyed it! :)
 
Dim light, dimwit, durrr...

20gh0l.jpg
 
Cheap fabic and dim lighting. That's how you move merchandise. (y)
 
If I had know this, I could have put brighter lights in my house and been another Einstein. :p
 
I found the LED light bulbs that are still catching on kinda harsh for lighting so I stocked up on some regular bulbs.
The lighting at Walmart is another thing I take eye vitamins just to get me though the day.
 
so bed side reading and fireplace reading, or even reading while it is raining makes you dumb? And candle light reading for the past few thousands years had bred us modern humans into sub-optimal idiots

nay
 
I hope my tax dollar did not go into this. Wouldn't this just be better done on people and get the the right answer of effects for people?
 
Comixbooks said:
I found the LED light bulbs that are still catching on kinda harsh for lighting so I stocked up on some regular bulbs.
The lighting at Walmart is another thing I take eye vitamins just to get me though the day.
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Depends on the LED.
 
theBrownLlama said:
so bed side reading and fireplace reading, or even reading while it is raining makes you dumb? And candle light reading for the past few thousands years had bred us modern humans into sub-optimal idiots

nay
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The study didn't conclude that dim lights made people brain dead, merely that exposure to bright lights made them smarter over a period of time.

Also, people for the last thousand years have also been going outside, and the sun is pretty bright.
 
B00nie said:
Depends on the LED.
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It really does. Incandescent lights and even cfls operate in a range of a spectrum. LEDs, not so much. They're typically a lot stricter when it comes to the color of the light they produce. Therefore it's really important that you match the color of the bulb to what you're trying to accomplish. There are also bulbs that mix different LEDs in a single bulb giving you a spectrum, but most are at a single color.
More info: http://blog.batteriesplus.com/2013/seeing-things-in-a-different-light
 
theBrownLlama said:
so bed side reading and fireplace reading, or even reading while it is raining makes you dumb? And candle light reading for the past few thousands years had bred us modern humans into sub-optimal idiots

nay
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This explains a lot about our society!
 
I wonder if is connected the circadian rhythms? Maybe the rats are all half asleep lol.
 
Sorry but people were dumb before dim light bulbs...stop trying to explain away stupid and start out breeding it.
 
Isn't this inline with the same theory and research that we need sunlight on a regular basis or our health and mental function will degrade over time like needing vitamin D??
 
does this mean hardOCP theme is going Red on White?
 
natos said:
Isn't this inline with the same theory and research that we need sunlight on a regular basis or our health and mental function will degrade over time like needing vitamin D??
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part of the problem, I think. Recently I read (or maybe lectured by my dad) that we are, the world over, very much needing more Vitamin D... too much time inside during day time, and some african/asian cultures avoid sun because they want lighter skin (and they use fluorescent because it's "whiter" than traditional incandescent)... it's a shame because darker skin colors look just as beautiful IMO. My most recent blood work said I was only low in Vit D... taking suppliments definitely improves my mood, but so does simply being in the direct sun 15 minutes a day, which I think is all the time you need to get "enough" of it, beyond that your skin becomes darker to try and block out the absorption
 
Gigus Fire said:
apply grass rats to humans
How does one accurately test intelligence in rats?
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They don't. They give them a spatial task. It's almost as if a spatial task requiring vision is impaired by impeding their ability to see it.

Stupid fucking articles are stupid.
 
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