I was contacted by a phd student of the Flinders University, Adelaide. She is looking for people suffering from blue-blindness (tritan color vision defects) as this could be in relation to their sleep wake cycle.
Read more in the following sentences from Claire. And if you are interested, please contact her directly. I think it would be very interesting for all of us to learn more about this topic.
I am a new phd student starting out at Flinders University, Adelaide. I am also doing a medical degree too. It has been discovered that blue light is most effective in re-setting peoples circadium rhythm (sleep wake cycle). But exactly why and how is completely unknown.
The only way a definitive experiment could be done would be to see if someone who could not see blue could still have their circadium rhythm reset or not. It would be the first experiment of its kind because the condition is so rare. As well as publishing awareness of colour blindness, particularly rare forms, it may also lead to investigations of whether people who have defective blue photoreceptors are more likely to have sleep disorders.
The experiments are very simple. Basically the participants just have to wear a pair of glasses that shines some light into their eyes at a certain time of the day (e.g. in the morning for an allotted amount of time), then later saliva is taken to measure melatonin (indicator of circadium rhythm). No one had thought of doing it with colourblind people before, and the proffessor actually laughed at me and said it would be impossible to find anyone, anywhere with such colour blindness. But colour blindness is not as rare as people think, and I am on a mission to find them.
So anyone who could help or even just explain their condition to me would be so much appreciated. Please anyone contact me at walk0299[at]flinders.edu.au, I would be so happy just for any information on your condition, and how it affects your life in general. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you so much – Claire
Claire, if you have any results ready, please let me know so I can share them with the readers of Colblindor.
I am mildly tritan color blind, and I do have sleep problems and also cluster headaches. It is interesting that an internal clock can be influenced by blue light.
I use dark rose tinted glasses. I would gladly switch to a blue tint if it reset my clock. lol.
Charlotte Williams
Your work is extremely interesting Claire. I for one would be interested in the result. I did a PhD on synaesthesia (colored hearing) and it was the most overwhelming and exciting feeling when I could actually recruit Participants that would fit the bill.
Regarding Charlotte’s comment. Surely the circadean rhythms are receptive to the quantity of short wave light which is believed by some authorities to be sensed not only by the eyes but also by the forehead and surronding areas (sorry Claire no reference). If however it is sensed only by the eyes and you have tritonomally, using blue tint to cut down the longer wavelengths will not increase the receptivity of short wavelengths. It may help balance your color vision because of color constancy but this will not extend to non visual effects of color, I don’t think.
Incidently the reason why artificial lights with a hue are preferred (as well as being easier to manufacture by and large) is to reduce the short wavelength light and help to settle us for the night. Think how alien the green biased florescent tubes seem.
Thanks for mentioning this. I wouldn’t have known that there were other causes of sleep disorders. I suffer from a sleep disorder called sleep apnea (for this who aren’t familiar with this you can get more information here:)… I’m currently undergoing treatment for my condition but I think I should do a little more research on other causes of sleep disorders just to rule them out. I do know a few people who are color blind and snore a lot so both could be contributing to their sleep problems.
Claire,
I am color blind but not with blue. I also have sleep apnea and cluster headaches. Your research is very interesting to me. Could these conditions all be related?
Hambone, White male, age 51 New Jersey USA
This would be an interesting study. I hope you get any funding you need to continue this project. Thanks for the post.
I suffer from a sleep disorder called sleep apnea (for this who aren’t familiar with this you can get more information here, thanks for your post. Good luck