Eye pigments reduce sensitivity to dazzling light
Published: Tuesday, Nov 14th 2023, 17:01
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Certain pigments in the eye reduce the feeling of being dazzled. However, this does not explain the differences in people's sensitivity to glare, as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) announced on Tuesday.
Researchers from EPFL and the Hôpital Ophthalmique Julies-Gonin in Lausanne have shown in a study that a higher density of macular pigments in the eye reduces the feeling of glare caused by blue-filtered daylight. The macular pigment is a pigment in the central part of the retina that absorbs blue light. The study was published in the journal "Scientific Reports".
"Since we had a physiological explanation, we expected that people with a higher density of macular pigments would be better protected against glare," Sneha Jain, first author of the study, was quoted as saying in the EPFL press release. To the researchers' surprise, however, this was not the case.
According to the researchers, this means that macular pigmentation cannot explain the repeatedly observed individual differences in glare perception: Pigment density has no significant influence on glare perception under neutral daylight conditions.
"Chronic lack of light"
According to the researchers, the findings on the sensation of glare are important, as this can lead to a lack of exposure to light. "The feeling of glare is the main reason why people close the blinds and thus avoid daylight," explained Jan Wienold, senior research associate at the Laboratory for Integrated Design Performance (LIPID) at EPFL.
For Marilyne Andersen, who heads LIPID, "lack of light is a contemporary disease." Humans evolved outdoors, but now spend around 90 percent of their time indoors, where the brightness is around a hundred times lower. "We are suffering from a chronic lack of light," she said.
According to the researchers, the findings will be used to design buildings in such a way that people do not have to close their blinds.
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