We are always interested in using scientific research as the backbone for art installations in healthcare. Over the next year, I will be working with artists to develop installations based on science for memory care facilities.  

It is well known that Alzheimer’s and dementia cause serious problems with sleep.  How can art help these patients?

Based on the research by a scientist from New York who postulates colored light can help memory care patients adjust their sleep patterns to normal circadian rhythms.  We will create blue and yellow light in art video, light installations, and other digital art mediums.  Listen to this interview from NPR’s All Things Considered to learn more.

Mariana Figueiro researches health applications at the Lighting Research Center at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. She recently conducted research using yellow light used as a “night light” around bathroom doors, and blue light as therapy for daytime in an Alzheimer’s unit.  She found that  Bluish lights apparently help us to wake up, and yellowish lights send signals to our circadian clocks to get ready to sleep. As Figueiro puts it, “The circadian system is what we call a blue sky detector.”  Read more.

CLICK HERE to listen to NPR interview