Light and Brain

How do brain waves change when interacting with flickering light?

When exposed to light, the brain changes its electrical activity. The pineal gland (glandula pinealis) is stimulated to produce consciousness-activating hormones, which have a significant influence on the day-night rhythm. This small light organ, deep inside the brain, has always been the subject of speculation. It is not without good reason that the pineal gland is often called the “third eye”. In the tuatara, a living fossil, the third eye still has a lens rudiment and pupil muscles innervated by the sympathetic nervous system.

Tissue cells similar to those found in the eye have also been detected histologically in the area surrounding the human pineal gland. Although many questions in this regard are still unanswered by science, it is known that the functional circuit of the pineal gland serves to balance the organism and its environment. The hypnagogic light experience uses our natural visual sensory channel to illustrate the correlation between the state of consciousness, brain waves and hormone release. An analysis of the brain activity recorded in the process shows the image of increasing harmonization (see illustration), which, depending on the characteristics of the light and the willingness of the observer, corresponds to a state of deep relaxation combined with maximum concentration. The activity of the brain is reflected in the eye of the observer in scenarios never seen before and he learns to influence it like a virtuoso musician (bidirectional neurofeedback). This phenomenon of central vision in the hypnagogic light experience leads to a fusion of object and subject.