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More on Reality and Color
I was also fascinated by the notion that there is some sort of correlation between colors and moods, perhaps having something to do with their wavelengths pointed out by Margaux. I'm more inclined, however, to attributing this phenomena to the level of active cones and rods in our retinas. In Seasonal Affective Disorder for example, people experience depression according to how much light is reaching their retina, and as we already know lots of light translates into more active cones. The amount of light, or rather the amount of cones, results in a change in the amount of serotonin and melatonin levels that consequently influence moods. Just like the way the amount of activated cones has an effect on moods we can apply this model to the question about colors. If different colors have different effects on human moods, than it may be due to the types, or subsets, of cones that are activated at that time (M,L or S). Again, this is determined by the amount of light that hits the retina. Therefore, can't we gather from this that the amount of light, not the particular wavelength of the color, is the reason for the differences in moods that are often observed? After all, in a dim or dark room, the color green could look almost brown or black and would have the opposite effect of what one would expect.