Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: WMCoolmon on January 26, 2008, 03:10:51 am
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A helemet with more fans that your computer (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=510172&in_page_id=1774) has been designed to deliver low-level infrared light. Supposedly this stimulates brain cells to grow, and could be a treatment for Alzheimer's or memory loss.
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how? the **** is this suposed to work?
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By stimulating the transfer of currency from various sources to the creators...
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Thanks, but I'll rather opt for the Total Gym..
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That gives a totally new definition to term "propeller head"... :lol:
Seeing how "low-level infrared light" is synonymous to thermal radiation, or heat radiation, one has to wonder how in the allmighty spaghetti monster's name is this going to do anything but make your scalp slightly warmer? The brain is pretty the part of body whose temperature is most regulated and stable - it's the last bit to overheat when body heats up, and it's the last place to freeze when you've fallen asleep to snow with half per cent of your bloodstream being alcohol.
There's no way infrared radiation can affect brain cells IN ANY WAY. If it actually does something to brain cells, it does it by some completely different effect than "stimulating brain cell growth" because it can not REACH the brain cells. As far as I know, thermal radiation only penetrates prganic matter slightly deeper than visible light, but all the way down to the brain... I find that a bit far-fetched, to be diplomatic. :wtf:
If someone knows exactly how deep does deep infrared radiation penetrate organic matter, please illuminate me about the subject. To be effective against Alzheimer (assuming thermal radiation even can stimulate nerve cells to reproduce in the first place), it would need to be able to reach from the surface of skin to the center of the brain, because Alzheimer is caused by beta-amyloid plaques forming all over the brain...
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If it would indeed warm up the brain... That would mean the body would try to cool it by increasing blood flow? But if that does anything beyond making one uncomfortable is beyond me...
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It might not be so ridiculous as it sounds:
The helmet works around 1072 nm. Article about light transmission through skull bone (can anyone access this for free? I can't):
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994SPIE.2082..154W
You can check if the mentioned 5% transmission is true by looking through that article. I cannot.
Then some related articles, but because I'm not working in that field, I cannot comment about the quality of those publications. (Any university people who can access the articles? I cannot - for free at least - and unless I can, my interest to this gadget will die quite quickly.)
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?p=197023
If this really works, the only thing I wonder is that why you couldn't sit under a normal tungsten lamp, or better yet, have good time with friends outside?
Mika
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If this really works, the only thing I wonder is that why you couldn't sit under a normal tungsten lamp, or better yet, have good time with friends outside?
Indeed.
Most likely the effects of spending time outside and having good time with friends would be more beneficial by themselves as far as stimulation of the brain is concerned...
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Unless by "having a good time" you mean getting stoned and wasted, which a lot of people do.
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"Doctor, are you sure this will make me smarter?" - Test Subject 02.
"Bah-rainzzzzz!" - Doctor who just pressed the 'popcorn' button.
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Unless by "having a good time" you mean getting stoned and wasted, which a lot of people do.
Yeah, that's why we shove the towel under the door: To hide from all the freeloading Alzheimer's patients.