Bright Cocaine: colors and dopamine

December 5, 2024

Intro

As continuation of my attempts to regain control over my attention, two month ago I switched my phone to first black, and white mode, and then I applied the same filter at 30% on my laptops and then reduced the filter intensity to 20-30% on all my devices. I helped a bit, actually black, and white helps quite significantly but it is a bit tiering to use.

So after the first month I’ve noticed the following changes:

I like my photos better in the new muted colors they seems to be more natural;
Real world colors now more vibrant, they are kinda the same but not exactly
I have hard times looking at other people screens because I think like colors burn through my retina. They are so over saturated to me.
I cannot edit my photos :) they feel just ok in the most cases, calm muted colors, a bit moody but it is what I like. My wife said that it is like with tastes, if you got used to plain tastes you can feel a broader, and more nuanced range tastes comparing to people who eat overly sweet, spicy, salty food.

I really like where I’m right now in terms of color perception and I will stay here for a little longer.

The main topic

The idea of trying to mute the colors came from a video describing some of the effects of bright screens, and colors on human brain. Apparently the brain really loves them because in the past colors meant something important, and they give a nice dopamine kick so we want more of it, like with drugs.

I decided to research the topic more to reduce the confirmation bias caused by the fact that the initial idea resonated with me. I found confirmation of the fact that bright colors indeed interfere with our reward mechanisms and as result they can contribute to the increased screen consumption. But besides that, I discovers a few more interesting things. I will use summarizations from Gemini almost as is so be prepared for verbose explanation.

I recommend to skim through the text since reading everything can be overwhelming and probably unnecessary.

Or just listen to this 15 minutes long autogenerated podcast:

Here is a summary of the provided text in 4 bullet points:

Color Perception and ADHD: Females with ADHD have difficulty discriminating between blue and red color saturation compared to those without ADHD. This may be due to differences in dopamine receptor activity.
Color Saturation and Smartphone Use: Reducing color saturation on smartphones (e.g., using grayscale) can decrease usage and feelings of overuse. However, this might not impact deeply ingrained phone-checking habits.
Color’s Impact on Visual Function: Individuals with color vision deficiency (CVD) may experience worse visual search performance when color saturation is reduced. However, for those with specific types of CVD, increasing saturation of certain color combinations can actually improve visual search.
Color and Attention/Cognition: Bright, saturated colors can capture attention and may be used to make things like advertisements or fast food branding more appealing. However, these same properties can contribute to addictive behaviors like problematic smartphone use.

In addition to these bullet points, the text highlights a need for further research on the long-term effects of reduced color saturation and personalized interventions that consider individual differences in color perception and attention.

Colors and Drugs: Similarities in Effects?

While the sources don’t directly compare the effects of colors to drugs, they do offer insights into how colors can influence our perception, attention, emotions, and even physiological responses. These insights, combined with our conversation history, allow us to consider some potential similarities in effects between colors and drugs:

Stimulation of Dopamine Release: Both bright, bold colors (like red, yellow, and orange) and certain drugs (like cocaine and amphetamines) can trigger the release of dopamine in the brain. This neurotransmitter is associated with pleasure, reward, and motivation, contributing to feelings of euphoria and well-being.
This similarity might explain why certain colors are used in marketing and branding, particularly for products and services aimed at triggering impulsive behaviors (e.g., fast food, gambling) [not from the sources].
Influence on Attention and Focus: Bright colors are known to capture attention and can be used to highlight important information or make objects more salient. Similarly, some drugs, like stimulants, can enhance focus and alertness, at least in the short term.
Conversely, reducing color saturation (e.g., by using grayscale mode on a smartphone) can potentially decrease attention to the device and reduce feelings of overuse [not from the sources, based on conversation history]. This concept somewhat mirrors the use of medications to manage addictive behaviors, although the mechanisms and effectiveness differ significantly.
Alterations in Visual Perception: Colors can influence how we perceive the world around us, particularly for individuals with color vision deficiency (CVD). Altering color saturation can either improve or worsen visual search performance depending on the type of CVD and specific color combination used.
Some hallucinogenic drugs also significantly distort visual perception, causing alterations in color, shape, and movement. However, these drug-induced alterations are typically more profound and unpredictable compared to the more subtle perceptual shifts caused by color variations.
Emotional Responses: Colors have been shown to evoke emotional responses, with different colors associated with different feelings and moods. For example, red is often linked to excitement, anger, or danger, while blue is associated with calmness, peace, or sadness.
Similarly, drugs can have profound effects on our emotional states. Stimulants can induce euphoria and excitement, while depressants can reduce anxiety and promote relaxation. However, drug-induced emotional changes are often more intense and can lead to negative consequences like mood swings or emotional instability.
Physiological Effects: Exposure to certain colors can trigger physiological changes, such as alterations in heart rate and skin conductance. For example, studies have shown that red light can increase arousal and activate the sympathetic nervous system.
Many drugs also induce physiological effects, ranging from changes in heart rate and blood pressure to alterations in sleep patterns and appetite. However, these effects can vary greatly depending on the drug’s mechanism of action, dosage, and individual factors.

It’s important to emphasize that the sources primarily focus on color perception and its implications for individuals with ADHD and CVD. Any comparison between the effects of colors and drugs should be treated with caution and requires further research.

The similarities highlighted above are primarily based on the shared ability of both colors and drugs to interact with our brain’s neurotransmitter systems and influence perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and physiological processes. However, the magnitude, duration, and potential risks associated with these effects differ significantly.

Additionally, the impact of colors is often subtle and context-dependent, while drugs can exert more powerful and direct effects on brain function. Drawing a direct equivalence between colors and drugs would be an oversimplification and requires a nuanced understanding of their distinct mechanisms and potential consequences.

Enhancing Lives of People with CVD Through Color

The sources offer several insights into how color impacts individuals with CVD and ways to improve their lives through strategic use of color.

Individuals with CVD, particularly those with protanomaly (a type of red-green color blindness), can benefit from increased saturation in specific color combinations, particularly “red/white”. This improvement likely stems from making the color difference more pronounced and overcoming the threshold limitations associated with CVD. It’s important to note that simply increasing saturation for all color combinations may not be beneficial, and some combinations might even worsen the visual search performance.
The use of color in digital displays, such as computer monitors and smartphones, can be adjusted to enhance visual accessibility for individuals with CVD. For example, color amplification and color compensation techniques in CRT and LCD monitors can be employed.
The relationship between the severity of CVD (measured using the CAD test) and the impact of increased saturation on visual search performance is not straightforward. The study referenced found no direct correlation between the severity of CVD and the benefits of increased saturation, suggesting that other factors, like eye movements and individual search strategies, might also play a role.
Occupation-based visual assessments, such as identifying colored signals in traffic or color-naming tasks in railway displays, are crucial for determining the suitability of individuals with CVD for specific professions. These tests consider the practical challenges faced by individuals with CVD in real-world scenarios and help determine their ability to perform tasks effectively and safely.
The sources primarily focus on visual search performance and occupational suitability for individuals with CVD, but the insights provided can be extrapolated to other areas of life. For example, the principle of increasing color saturation to improve visual distinction can be applied to various everyday tasks, such as differentiating between fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, navigating colored maps and signs, or engaging in hobbies like painting or crafts.

Real-world applications:

Adjusting digital displays: Individuals with CVD could benefit from adjusting the color saturation settings on their devices. This can be achieved through built-in accessibility features or third-party apps that enhance color contrast and differentiation.
Color-coding systems: Public spaces and workplaces can adopt color-coding systems that are specifically designed to be accessible to individuals with CVD. This might involve choosing color combinations with high contrast and avoiding commonly confused colors.
Educational materials: Textbooks and learning resources can utilize color schemes that are optimized for individuals with CVD. This can help improve comprehension and engagement with the material.
Assistive technologies: Devices like color-identifying pens or smartphone apps can help individuals with CVD identify colors in their environment, increasing independence and accessibility.

By understanding the specific challenges faced by individuals with CVD and how color perception can be enhanced through color saturation adjustments and other strategies, we can create a more inclusive and accessible world.

Using Colors in the Real World to Enhance Attractiveness and Addictiveness

The sources primarily discuss the negative consequences of color saturation. They focus on how removing color saturation can make smartphones less stimulating and addictive. However, some information within the sources can be extrapolated to understand how color is used to make things more attractive and addictive:

Color is a powerful information channel that can influence human cognition and memory. Colors can increase brand recognition by up to 80%. They can make advertisements more attractive and increase readership by up to 42%. Although these sources focus on marketing, they show how color can be used to make things more appealing and memorable, potentially contributing to addictive behaviors like excessive consumption or brand loyalty.
Bright, bold colors like red, yellow, and orange are known to be particularly effective at stimulating dopamine release. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, reward, and motivation, which plays a crucial role in the brain’s reward system. By triggering dopamine release, these colors can boost mood and motivation. This suggests that designers and marketers can use bright colors to make products, apps, and environments more appealing and potentially addictive.
Warm colors like yellow, red, and orange are more effective in capturing attention compared to cool colors like brown and gray. This attention-grabbing quality can be utilized to create visually stimulating experiences that draw users in and keep them engaged, potentially leading to increased use and even addiction.
The specific combination of hue, saturation, and brightness can influence emotional responses to color. For instance, while saturated and bright colors generally evoke higher arousal and more positive valence, the specific emotional response also depends on the hue. Blue hues tend to evoke more positive valence, but only when highly saturated. This highlights the complexity of color perception and how carefully chosen color combinations can be used to create specific emotional responses in users, potentially increasing the attractiveness and addictiveness of products and environments.
Increasing the saturation of certain color combinations can enhance visual search performance for individuals with color vision deficiency (CVD). For example, increasing saturation in “red/white” color combinations can improve visual search performance for individuals with protanomaly (a type of red-green color blindness). While not directly related to addiction, this finding shows how manipulating color saturation can make visual information more appealing and accessible, potentially leading to increased engagement and preference for certain designs or products.

Examples of these concepts in the real world:

Fast Food Restaurants: Fast food chains like McDonald’s (red and yellow) and KFC (red and white) use bright, warm colors to attract attention and stimulate appetite. These colors are also associated with feelings of happiness and excitement, potentially creating positive associations with the brand and contributing to repeat customers.
Social Media Apps: Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook utilize bright colors and notifications to capture attention and keep users engaged. The constant stream of colorful images and notifications triggers dopamine release, making the scrolling experience pleasurable and potentially addictive.
Video Games: Many video games, particularly those designed for children, use highly saturated colors and visually stimulating graphics to create an immersive and engaging experience. The bright colors and exciting visuals, combined with rewarding gameplay mechanics, can contribute to video game addiction.

While the sources primarily focus on reducing problematic smartphone use by removing color saturation, they offer insights into how color can be strategically used to enhance attractiveness and potentially contribute to addictive behaviors in various real-world contexts.

Briefing Doc: Exploring Color, Attention, and Smartphone Use

This briefing doc reviews key themes and findings from provided research articles, focusing on the interplay of color perception, attention, and smartphone usage behaviors. Theme 1: Color Perception and Attention in ADHD Two studies, Kim et al. (2014a, 2014b), investigated the role of color perception and attention in adults with ADHD. Key findings:

Adults with ADHD exhibited poorer color saturation discrimination accuracy compared to controls, particularly for blue and red stimuli. This was especially pronounced in females with ADHD.
The authors propose that this may be due to a hypothesized hypodopaminergic state in females with ADHD, potentially stemming from delayed pruning of dopamine receptors.
Exogenous covert attention, the ability to automatically shift attention to a stimulus, appeared intact in individuals with ADHD.
However, a sex difference emerged: females, both with and without ADHD, displayed greater enhancements in red color saturation perception under conditions of exogenous covert attention. This contrasts with previous findings and may be attributed to specific characteristics of the experimental paradigm.

Quotes:

“…females in control groups show superiority in blue and red color saturation discrimination while no difference was shown in contrast sensitivity or in females with ADHD.” (Kim et al., 2014a)
“This delayed pruning of DA receptors in females may preclude the opportunity to reduce overproduction of DA receptors in female young adults with ADHD… which may contribute to poorer color perception compared to female peers.” (Kim et al., 2014a)

Theme 2: Problematic Smartphone Use (PSU) and Grayscale Interventions Several studies explored various facets of PSU and the potential benefits of reducing the visual appeal of smartphones through grayscale settings. Key findings:

Three types of smartphone use contribute to PSU: social, procedural, and habitual. Each type fulfills different needs and is associated with varying levels of problematic use.
Quote: “Studies have established a greater association between either habitual and procedural smartphone use … or social use … and problematic use behaviors.” (Wickord & Quaiser-Pohl, 2023)
The Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale (MPPUS) measures PSU across five factors: Loss of Control, Withdrawal, Negative Life Consequences, Craving, and Peer Dependence.
Quote: “An example item to elicit ‘Loss of Control’ would be ‘I am engaged with the smartphone for longer periods than intended.’” (Wickord & Quaiser-Pohl, 2023)
A study by Dekker and Baumgartner (2023) found that a one-week grayscale intervention significantly increased perceived control over smartphone use, reduced perceived overuse, and lowered all three dimensions of online vigilance (salience, reactibility, and monitoring).
Grayscaling also led to decreased self-reported stress levels.
Quote: “…a significant decrease in self-reported stress levels was found, t(84) = –3.13, p = .002, d = 0.68.” (Dekker and Baumgartner, 2023)

Theme 3: The Influence of Color on Visual Function and Cognitive Performance Several studies examined the broader impact of color on visual and cognitive functions, including memory and visual search performance in individuals with color vision deficiency (CVD). Key findings:

Kim et al. (2013) found that young adults with ADHD self-reported a higher proportion of problems in depth perception, peripheral vision, visual search, and visual processing speed compared to controls. They also showed slower processing of visual stimuli on color vision and cognitive tests.
Quote: “Está garantizada una amplia investigación sobre los mecanismos subyacentes de la función visual y la visión de color con TDAH, junto con el impacto potencial de estos problemas visuales sobre la conducción.” (Kim et al., 2013) [Further investigation of the mechanisms underlying visual function and color vision in ADHD is warranted, along with the potential impact of these visual problems on driving.]
Wilms et al. (2017) demonstrated that color influences emotional responses. Specifically, high color saturation elicited higher arousal, and chromatic colors were perceived more positively than grayscales. They also found sex differences in valence ratings, with females rating gray colors less positively than males.
A study by Hathibelagal (2023) revealed that reducing display saturation negatively impacted visual search performance in individuals with CVD, specifically deutans and protans.
Quote: “In protans and deutans, similarly, the maximum difference in visual search performance index relative to normal trichromats was… observed for stimuli of low saturation.” (Hathibelagal, 2023)
Research suggests color can enhance memory performance. Marketing studies highlight color’s ability to increase brand recognition, while studies in advertising show that colored advertisements attract more attention compared to non-colored ones.

Overall Conclusions:

Color perception and attention are intricately linked, impacting various cognitive processes and behaviors.
Individuals with ADHD may experience difficulties with color perception, potentially influencing visual function and daily life activities.
Modifying color saturation, such as through grayscale settings, can influence smartphone use behaviors, potentially reducing overuse and stress.
However, it is crucial to consider potential drawbacks of reduced color saturation, especially for individuals with CVD, as it can negatively impact task performance.

Future Research Directions:

Further exploration of the neurological underpinnings of color perception and attention in ADHD, particularly in females.
Investigating the long-term effects of grayscale interventions on smartphone use, well-being, and cognitive performance.
Developing personalized interventions that address individual differences in color perception, attention, and technology use.
Designing color-enhanced learning environments and assistive technologies that leverage the positive effects of color on cognitive function.