New Light Device Helps With Depression, and Makes You Move Faster, Too

What if there was a device that could not only help you with depression but also help you accomplish things faster, too? And all it took was a few ice hockey players in Finland to prove it.

The Valkee, a portable headset originally designed to help sufferers of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), can also improve reaction time, according to a study conducted by Verve Research in Finland and reported by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore of cnet.com.

The device works by dispatching eight-to 12-minute doses of bright light through the ear canal and into the brain, according to Moore.

The placebo-controlled study, which tested the effects of the headset on Finnish national league ice hockey players, found that those exposed to 12 minutes of light via the headset sped up their already fast reaction times by 20 percent.

“The placebo-controlled study showed a significant improvement in motoric reaction times of top athletes using bright light via the ear canal,” says head researcher Mikko Tulppo in a news release, Moore reports.

The results of the study bring up some interesting questions, according to Moore.  “Does light exposure directly affect our reaction times?  And if it does, do the darker, winter months actually slow our reaction time? What about dark nights? How frequently would light therapy need to be administered to counteract darkness? Could light therapy improve the reaction times of long-distance truckers and pilots?” she posts.

It’s long been known that being exposed to periods of light during dark winter days can alleviate SAD, which is similar to depression and can lead to weight gain, decreased sleep, a lack of energy in the afternoon, slow or sluggish activity, lethargy and sadness, or depression.

The further you live from the equator, the more likely it is you will experience SAD, according to medicinenet.com. This disorder occurs in about 5 percent of adults, and occurs four times more frequently in women than in men.