Psychological effects of colour

The discovery that blood pressure increases under red light and decreases under blue light led Gerard to suggest that psychophysiological activation increases with wavelength from blue to red.

These early therapeutic applications of coloured light were the basis of many future experiments and formed the foundations of various theories. Coloured light is still used today as a colour therapy treatment, along with a whole host of other methods.

To learn more about colour therapy, click here.

In the 1940s, the Russian scientist S V Krakov provided support for Lüscher's theories by establishing that the colour red stimulates the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system, while blue stimulates the parasympathetic part. These findings were confirmed in 1958 by Robert Gerard of the USA, who found that red was disturbing to anxious or tense subjects, while blue had a calming effect. Red produced feelings of arousal and blue produced feelings of calm, tranquility and well being.