George Brainard, Ph.D., is Professor of Neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.
His ongoing research at the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, has clarified how the human eye uses light to regulate melatonin production, and in turn, the body's biological clock.
Dr. Brainard, who is also associate team leader for the Human Performance Factors, Sleep and Chronobiology Team of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute in Houston, argues that the therapeutic use of light is becoming more important to society increasingly deprived of sleep.
Dr. Brainard contends that light can both heal and harm.
He has spent much of the past two decades trying to understand how the brain interprets, reacts to and uses light independently of the visual system.
He and others have discovered what appears to be a novel "photoreceptor system" in the human eye that regulates the biological and behavioral effects of light on the body.
They have elucidated the specific wavelengths of light that control the production of melatonin, which plays an important role in the body's circadian rhythms.
The wavelengths of light in the blue region of the visible spectrum are the most potent in controlling melatonin production.
"In the long range, we think this will shape all artificial lighting, whether it's used for therapeutic purposes, or for normal illumination of workplaces, hospitals or homes," he says. "Broad changes in general architectural lighting may take years, but the groundwork has been established."
