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Stress-beating Blues
02 December 2017

Stress-beating Blues

Feeling a bit stressed? For a quick fix, switching on a blue light might help. A recent study, in which volunteers were subjected to stressful mental arithmetic tasks and then placed in either a blue-lit or white-lit relaxation room (pictured), showed that those people exposed to the blue light were able to relax on average three times faster than those exposed to white light. Blue light has also been reported to interfere with sleep, which might seem at odds with the new relaxation data, but since other wavelengths of light were not tested in this preliminary study, it is impossible to say whether red hues might turn out to be even more relaxing. Figuring out the best light wavelengths and intensities for maximal and speediest relaxation could help in both clinical settings (to calm anxious patients) as well as in our everyday lives.

Written by Ruth Williams

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What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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