Lights and Sleep - biophotons at work

The Duo Coronet improves sleep. We have had so many reports from people world-wide, delighted at being able to get a better night’s sleep. For those with REM sleep disorder thanks to Parkinson’s disease, the red and near infrared lights reduce the crazy - and sometimes downright nasty - dreams and the limb thrashing. This not only makes for a better night’s sleep for the person with Parkinson’s disease but is also a great relief to their partner.

So how does the Duo Coronet improve sleep?

We know that the lights from the Duo Coronet penetrate into the outer centimetres of the brain tissue, and directly stimulate the millions of neurones in the cortex layer. Initially it was thought that this was the main reason for the improvements in sleep at night.

A very recent research paper (conflict of interest alert, as I’m a co-author) describes what happens in sleep and in wakefulness when people use transcranial photobiomodulation. The glymphatic system - the nightly in-brain garbage collection system - is explained, and the existence and activity of biophotons is described.

Biophotons are particularly interesting things. They are very weak light pulses generated by the brain as a means of communication and repair. This makes a lot of sense, because it is an explanation as to why the neurones buried deep in the brain, for example in the basal ganglia, still have the ability to respond to light. You’d think that if those light-responsive proteins weren’t used, then they would have no need to be present. Something, though, has kept them in place, and now we know what. One of the important biophoton wavelengths is visible red 670nm, Yes, this is the same wavelength we use in the Duo Coronet.

The article suggests that when red light is shone onto the brain, the neurones respond by themselves using 670nm light pulses. The power and pulse-rate of the biophotons are useful in signalling between neurones. It seems that these biophotons are also involved in repairing ailing neurones. This is very welcome and exciting news.

If you’d like a copy of the article, you can download it here.

Reference

Moro C, Valverde A, Dole M, Hoh Kam Jaimie, Hamilton Catherine, Liebert Ann, Bickness B, Benabid Alim-Louis, Magistretti Pierre and Mitrofanis John,
The effect of photobiomodulation on the brain during wakefulness and sleep.
Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2022;16. doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.942536

Thank you to Seiji Seiji on Unsplash for the gorgeous photo of the sleeping South Australian joey.