Being Blue and Seeing Blue: The Impact of Amber Lenses on Sleep Quality and Mood (2015)

Undergraduates: Julia Lukacs, Tate Halverson (B.A.)

Faculty Advisor: Eric Youngstrom
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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The connections between sleep and mood disorders have prompted speculation in the field of psychology for some time. The human circadian rhythm, the biological mechanism which has a significant impact on the diurnal highs and lows of both wakefulness and mood, is impacted by a variety of endogenous and exogenous factors. One of the most potent of these factors is light, but it has recently been proven that the absence or presence of blue wavelength light (446-477 nm) has a particularly strong effect. With the use of blue light blocking amber lenses, one may be able to influence and regulate sleep, mood and potentially mental health for the better, especially in individuals for whom these cycles are disrupted.
Approximately 60 students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, aged 18-??, in which they were required to wear either control blue or experimental amber lenses for three hours prior to a calculated average bedtime for 12 days of an 18 day protocol. Participants completed self-report measures of sleep quality, mood, and physiological complaints on a daily basis. Approximately 18 of the participants also wore GENEActiv watches, measuring activity such as movement and body temperature. The 6 days they did not wear glasses were compared to the 12 days during which they did wear glasses.