Light and Other Hormones!

04/23
Today I helped label test tubes with Brittany, but it still proved to be a really interesting session because Brittany explained all about what the test tubes were going to be used for! Since the light and melatonin experiments are pretty much finished up, they are starting new projects involving the relationships between other hormones and light! Brittany told me all about how these test tubes were going to hold blood samples tested for levels in ghrelin, a hormone which controls and limits you're feelings of hunger. They are going to start a test, over the summer, to see whether interrupting peoples' sleep cycles with light affects their ghrelin levels throughout the day. There are studies which suggest that ghrelin levels decrease if people do not get enough sleep. So people eat more if they don't get enough sleep because their ghrelin levels are not high enough to tell their brain and body that they are satisfied. The lab is also going to compare people who wake up when it's dark out versus when it's light out and how their ghrelin levels are affected that way too! I found these experiment ideas really interesting because I do feel like I don't get enough sleep when I wake up when it's dark out even if I get a good amount of sleep. Without light to stimulate the senses, I feel more groggy! I never really thought about how light could affect hormones other than melatonin, so I will definitely do more research on these ideas!

Virtual Light and Design!

04/16

Hi guys! There wasn't a lot going on in the lab last week because the graduate students were working on their theses and class work. But Brittany (the graduate student I work with) did show me what she was working on in her Light and Design class, and it involves some really interesting assignments! Brittany and her class went to New Jersey to a retirement development. This development hoped to use more sustainable light sources to light their streets and recreation center. So the class set up a virtual establishment, simulating the development's rooms and streets. They used a special computer program that provided models of the room and tested different light sources to see which ones provided the most light while being more sustainable! The most sustainable lights are LED lights, which last longer and provide more light around a room. Brittany showed me the model she made of a lamppost on the street outside one of the buildings. She could measure the illumiance it provided and could bring factors like distance from street, aging of the lamppost, and weather into play to see how well that lamp could provide light while using less energy over time! It was really cool to see the use of light to help the environment and I loved how hands on the class was in helping other facilities! 

No Internship Today

04/09
Hi guys! Since it was long weekend I didn't have my internship this Monday. Look for a new post next week! 

More Pupil Dilation Measurements!

04/02
Today I work on measuring more pupil dilations under red light again! Just the same kinds of measurements I did in my previous post!
Here are some more photos with the equipment I use. I really like doing these measurements because I get to see how different people's eyes react to light, which can tell us a lot about how much melatonin is suppressed in the bodies. We can apply these findings to their ethnicity and eye color and connect hypotheses about melatonin suppression and, say, dark-colored eyes. The melatonin levels of people with dark-colored eyes are said to be more affected by light than the levels of those with light-colored eyes. I like to compare these hypotheses to my work!
Below is how I measure a pupil; the measuring tool tells me millimeters, which I then compare to the ruler underneath the eye.
My math is show in photo #2. This person has a pupil size of 5.97mm. That pupil is a little on the large side; a very common measurement is just 4-5mm.