Light Therapy for Sleep: A Powerful Solution for Better Rest and Improved Health

by Hugh Thomas

“A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.” Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet

The Complexity of Our Brains

The understanding of sleep is a vast endeavor that is in its infancy. The difficulty in fully understanding sleep can be attributed to the incredible complexity of the human brain. Theorists believe that the human brain might contain one hundred billion quantum bits, which would make a single human brain more powerful than all the digital computers in the world combined.[1]

From Stanford Medicine: “A typical healthy human brain contains about 200 billion nerve cells, or neurons, linked to one another via hundreds of trillions of tiny contacts called synapses.”[2]

Two hundred billion is 200,000 million, a number so vast that it is quite possible that the human brain will never fully comprehend its own complexity.

The Mitochondrion

Much of this complexity can be reduced when we conceptually set aside this connective labyrinth and consider individual brain cells. Every brain cell has organelles known as mitochondria. These small organelles produce much of the energy that makes our cellular processes possible. Any cell that is deficient in this energy will underperform in its duties. Moreover, mitochondria do much more. They regulate calcium, produce certain hormones and neurotransmitters. Hence, maintaining mitochondrial health is important to the health of the entire brain. Fortunately, photobiomodulation has shown to improve the functioning of the brain’s mitochondria:

Figure 1. Schematic diagram showing the direct stimulation mechanism of photobiomodulation. When photobiomodulation hits the cells directly, it is absorbed by a photoacceptor, most notably cytochrome oxidase c or interfacial nanowater within the mitochondria. This results in the production of more ATP (adenosine triphosphate) energy and to the activation of transcription factors in the nucleus and expression of protective and stimulatory genes within the cells. The net result is a healthier cell.
Credit: Frontiers in Neuroscience     https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.942536/fu

A Need for Quality Sleep

Quoting Matthew Walker, Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California:

“Sleep is the Swiss army knife of health. When sleep is deficient, there is sickness and disease. And when sleep is abundant, there is vitality and health.”

Sleep serves several vital functions in promoting our well-being. Good sleep will improve learning, cognitive skills, and memory functioning. Adequate sleep also reduces the risk of developing a range of serious medical conditions, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.[3]

Poor quality sleep can negatively impact our overall health in many ways. The problems include obesity,[4] slow learning and poor memory, risk taking, aggression, and violence.[5] Insufficient sleep can affect performance and productivity. Poor sleep can cause stress, substance abuse, and a decline in overall health and wellbeing. Poor sleep increases mortality and morbidity.[6]

A study from 2022 shows that photobiomodulation improved sleep quality in subjects after a mere five days of therapy.[7] Another study shows that employing photobiomodulation protects brain cells against damage, disease and reduces gliosis and/or inflammation.[8]

Cleaning Toxins During Sleep

Sleep offers the brain a rest from the intensity of daily thinking and uses sleep as a time for housekeeping. The brain must not only sort cognitive inputs and engage in memory consolidation from the previous day, but it must also engage in expelling toxins.  A study from 2023 shows that photobiomodulation can enhance this housekeeping function.[9]

Photobiomodulation and Anxiety

Poor sleep quality is associated with anxiety.[10] Not only has this been shown in multiple studies, but the notion also makes common sense. We all intuitively understand that anxiousness makes us restless. Once again, photobiomodulation comes into play. Several scientific papers have shown that photobiomodulation can help with anxiety: 

“Photobiomodulation therapy appears to be a safe efficacious modality for ameliorating various degrees of anxiety and depression and for improving cognition and is supported by several well-established mechanisms of action at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels.”[11]

The mounting scientific evidence shows that photobiomodulation is quickly becoming a viable tool in providing better cellular health for the brain, relief from anxiety and improved sleep.

This article is a result of the dedicated and tireless efforts of researchers in the field of brain health, sleep quality and photobiomodulation. It is important to note that the findings and studies mentioned herein are not a product of Neuronic’s own research, nor were they conducted using our devices. Rather, they represent the broader scientific advancements in the field, underscoring the potential benefits of this innovative therapy.

About the author: Hugh Thomas is an American horticulturist, professional photographer, freelance writer, and entrepreneur with a keen interest in cell biology, photobiomodulation and a fascination with the mitochondria. He lives in Arizona, USA.

References

1. Odonnell Company, The incredible potential of the human brain, Odonnell Company. Available at: https://odonnellco.com/insights/view/?id=1#:~:text=Theorists%20believe%20your%20brain%20might,computers%20in%20the%20world%20combined (Accessed: 30 October 2024).

2. News Center (2010) New Imaging Method developed at Stanford reveals stunning details of brain connections, News Center. Available at: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2010/11/new-imaging-method-developed-at-stanford-reveals-stunning-details-of-brain-connections.html (Accessed: 30 October 2024).

3. Alpes, 1Université Grenoble (no date) Lights at night: Does photobiomodulation improve sleep? : Neural regeneration research, LWW. Available at: https://journals.lww.com/nrronline/fulltext/2023/03000/Lights_at_night__does_photobiomodulation_improve.2.aspx (Accessed: 30 October 2024).

4. Spiegel, K. et al. (no date) Effects of poor and short sleep on glucose metabolism and obesity risk, Nature News. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrendo.2009.23 (Accessed: 30 October 2024).

7. Y;, Z.X.W.J. (no date) Brain photobiomodulation improves sleep quality in subjective cognitive decline: A randomized, Sham-controlled study, Journal of Alzheimer’s disease : JAD. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35491787/ (Accessed: 30 October 2024).

8. Moro, C. et al. (2022) The effect of photobiomodulation on the brain during wakefulness and sleep, Frontiers. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.942536/full (Accessed: 30 October 2024).

9. Alpes, 1Université Grenoble (no date a) Lights at night: Does photobiomodulation improve sleep? : Neural regeneration research, LWW. Available at: https://journals.lww.com/nrronline/fulltext/2023/03000/Lights_at_night__does_photobiomodulation_improve.2.aspx (Accessed: 30 October 2024).

10. Author links open overlay panelHolly J. Ramsawh a et al. (2009) Relationship of anxiety disorders, sleep quality, and functional impairment in a community sample, Journal of Psychiatric Research. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022395609000211 (Accessed: 30 October 2024).