EFFECT OF BLUE LIGHT THERAPY ON THE COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL RESPONSES AND ACTIVITY-REST OF YOUNG AND AGED RODENTS
blue light, aged, open field, rhythm, episodic memory.
With increasing age, it is common to encounter behavioral changes, whether in cognitive aspects or the rhythm of activity and rest, especially in aged animals. Blue light phototherapy has been used as a method capable of providing cognitive and emotional improvements. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of blue light therapy on the cognitive and emotional performance of young (3 months) and aged(20 months) rats based on behavioral tests such as open field and object recognition, as well as evaluating the rhythm of activity and rest. The animals underwent a period of adaptation in the activity and rest rhythm recording box for 14 days, under a C-E cycle of 12:12 hours, followed by behavioral tests and finally, a group of treated animals underwent therapy of blue light over 14 days, under a C-C-E cycle of 6:6:12 hours. Our results show that blue light did not impair the performance of aged animals, but it also did not induce an improvement in exploratory behavior and locomotor activity in the open field, when 33 compared to young animals. Both animals did not show improvements in episodic memory in the object recognition test, but for all animals, positive effects of blue light were observed on activity and rest rhythm. In this sense, blue light therapy may be efficient and capable of causing cognitive improvements, but more studies are needed to clarify the relationship between blue light and cognitive and emotional response.