Cherif Amor
Impact of Fluorescent Lighting Color Temperature on Autistic Cognitive Processes:
A Collaborative Exploration between Design, Neuroscience, and Behavioral Sciences
Cherif Amor
VCUarts Qatar
mcamor@vcu.edu
Dr. Bendriss, G.
Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar
Dr. Hiathem, H.
Dr. Ghanem, R
VCUarts Qatar
Dr. Ed. Boone
Dr. Carr, S.
Elkhatib, G.
Behavioral evidences indicate that fluorescent lighting among the indoor environmental variables (noise, ambient temperature, and air quality) play a critical role in facilitating or hindering our daily activities (Amor, 2019; Rashid & Zimiring, 2008). Specifically, autistic subjects become more distracted under fluorescent lighting, which generates agitation, hyperactivity, stress, and weak cognitive skills, hence causing adverse health and performance effects (Gaines et al., 2014). While there is a growing body of debatable environmental behavior literature relative to the impact of fluorescent lighting on cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial outcomes, little is known about the correlation between brain neural activity and fluorescent lighting’s color impact on Autistic cognitive processes. Neuroscience precedents indicate that seeing color activates the ventral occipital cortex, including the fusiform and lingual gyri (Hsu, Sharon & Thompson-Schill, 2012; Morita, Kochiyama, Okada, Yonekura, & Sadato, 2004), but little is known about the neural activity under different lighting color spectra—Correlated Color Temperature— CCT.
The purpose of this funded pilot study is to explore the behavioral and neural brain wave responses of three autistic subjects when exposed to 4 Color themes (3 chromatic lighting colors--Warm White WW with a 2700 CCT, b) Cool White CW with a 4100 CCT, and c) Daylight DX with 5500 CT), and one achromatic color theme (black, white, and grey) with 3 test applications— numerical reasoning, reading comprehension, and problem-solving with emphasis on color theme (the activation of the ventral occipital cortex—area activated when seeing color, and the pre-frontal cortex—area of the brain activated under cognitive processes. This pilot explorative study includes three ASD Level 1 autism spectrum disorder subjects who will be selected based on age, gender, handedness, and color blindness. Participants undergo neural and behavioral experiments including 12 conditions: 4 CCT’s (three *chromatic colors and one **achromatic) and three test applications—1) numerical reasoning, 2) reading comprehension, and 3) problem-solving using an immersive virtual environment (HTC VIVE Focus V3) and the EMOTIV EPOC+ (14-channel wireless EEG headset), whereby neural brain waves are recorded. The behavioral data is based on a ‘satisfaction’ survey that is administered right after the conclusion of the neural experiment. This research aims to provide behavioral and neural benchmark data relative to lighting color temperature that facilitates or inhibits cognitive skills for autistic subjects. The preliminary observations suggest that higher-color-temperature fluorescent lighting could provide interior built environments that enhance the activation of the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for cognitive processes; however, further large-sampling work is necessary to substantiate the preliminary findings of this research.
References:
Amor, C. (2019). Impact of fluorescent color temperature on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) subjects: A fMRI study”. Innovation in Global Health Professions Education (IGHPE) Journal, 24—27.
Gaines, K. S., Curry, Z., Shroyer, J., Amor, C., & Lock, R. H. (2014). The perceived effects of visual design and features on students with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of architectural and planning research, 282-298.
Rashid, M. & Zimiring, C. (2008). A Review of Empirical Literature on the Relationships Between Indoor Environment and Stress in Health Care and Office Settings: Problems and Prospects of Sharing Evidence. Environment and Behavior, 40(2), 151--190."
BIOGRAPHY
Cherif Amor currently holds the position of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar, where he began his tenure in early 2013 as the Chair of the Department of Interior Design. Prior to this, he served as the Director of the Interior and Environmental Design graduate program and Chair of the Department of Design at Texas Tech University. Cherif also previously served as the Director of Education for the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), Texas/Oklahoma Chapter. His research interests include neuro-imaging and the built environment, evidence-based design, and collaborative pedagogies, all developed through academic and industry-funded projects. Cherif is a consultant and site visitor for the Council for Interior Design Accreditation and the Chair of the Environmental Design Research Association Interior Design Network. Additionally, he serves as an academic consultant for institutions in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain. Cherif has received numerous teaching, research, and service awards from esteemed institutions and conferences, notably the QF Annual Research Conference, the International Academy for Design and Health, and the Environmental Design Research Association.