Effects of Light on Attention and Reaction Time: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Accuracy, speed, efficiency, and applicability of activities in the workplace are among the most important effective factors on people's productivity, which is in turn affected by environmental factors, such as light. Therefore, the present research aimed to review the studies performed about the effects of light on attention and reaction time. Sudy Design: A systematic review. Methods: This review study systematically searched articles from 2000-2019 in databases of Google Scholar, ISC, SID, Magiran, Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, and Scopus using keywords of light, lighting, attention, and reaction time. The titles and abstracts of articles containing relevant results over the past 20 years were extracted. Thereafter, they were categorized and analyzed according to the title, author name, publication year, study method, study type, and evaluation results. Results: Based on the results, the light with shorter wavelengths, higher intensity, and higher color temperature led to suppressed melatonin, higher consciousness, less somnolence, increased attention, and faster reaction time. Simultaneous exposure to harmful levels of environmental factors affects cognitive and physiological parameters, acting independently with a separate mechanism or synergistically with a similar mechanism. The best light in the regulation of psychological, biological, and cognitive processes is bright daylight in the morning with a short wavelength, high intensity, and more lasting effects. Conclusion: As evidenced by the obtained results, light is a powerful modulator of non-visual performance in cognitive tasks. The wavelength, color temperature, and light intensity modulate brain responses to cognitive tasks, including attention and reaction time. Therefore, these parameters, along with personal and environmental factors, should be considered in designing and using light.

The human brain-inspired light-stimulated gelatin-biopolymer gated synaptic transistor for realizing cognitive activities

“…The influence of the colour of light on human mood, attention, consciousness, and reaction time has been established 77 and it modulates brain responses during cognitive tasks. 78 Notably, the impact of light of different colour has been extensively utilized in the treatment of certain mood disorders. For studying the colour of light-dependent learning responses of human brain, we performed an experiment to observe the light wavelength-dependent of EPSC in these photo synaptic OFETs.…”

“…The influence of the colour of light on human mood, attention, consciousness, and reaction time has been established 77 and it modulates brain responses during cognitive tasks. 78 Notably, the impact of light of different colour has been extensively utilized in the treatment of certain mood disorders. For studying the colour…”

Enhancement of Visual Attention by Color Revealed Using Electroencephalography

“…These results suggest that positive alpha and low-gamma waves could be key indicators of attentional errors or deficits. Previous studies have demonstrated the positive effects of blue light on attention and consciousness [13] [14] [15]. For instance, exposure to blue-enriched white light (17,000 K) can reportedly improve working memory and sustained attention [16].…”

“…Additionally, exposure to high levels of illuminance at the eye level can induce subjective alertness and vitality, increase physiological arousal, and improve performance in a sustained attention task even in the absence of sleep and with light deprivation [21]. Generally, high illuminance levels have been associated with increased alertness and concentration, highlighting their importance in enhancing attention [13].…”