Blue light and health: A review of blue light and its structural and functional effects on children’s brains and neural development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.543Keywords:
blue light, neural development, circadian rhythm, melatonin suppression, learning disordersAbstract
Light is essential to all life and is pivotal to humans' visual perception abilities. Without light, biological functioning would not be possible. Blue light, a higher-energy light with a shorter wavelength, makes up almost one-third of all visible light and is particularly known for its positive effects on cognitive function, mood regulation, and the body’s circadian rhythms. Recently, blue light has also been recognized as detrimental to the body’s health and there has been increased concern about the long-term effects of exposure to blue light during specific time periods in the day. These effects may include a loss of hormone secretion, retinal damage, disturbances in the body’s circadian rhythms, and more. Here, these impacts will be discussed in three distinct sections: circadian rhythms/melatonin secretion, retinal cells and visual perception, and other ramifications on human health. This paper will additionally address the advantages and disadvantages of blue light and specific physiological and psychological effects on the brain. This review will focus predominantly on children and their neural development. Structural and possible functional effects that blue light has on the brain will also be mentioned with a particular emphasis on children. The objective of this paper is to recognize these effects and possibly find a correlation between such exposure and the development of specific health issues later in children’s lives. Using evidence from multiple studies and attributable data, this paper will provide an objective analysis that expands on current findings and provides insight into the lesser-known effects of blue light. Finally, possible recommendations and preventative measures that may arise due to these effects will also be discussed.
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