NSR-M Science
NSR-M lenses are based on over 40 years of research in the fields of light sensitivity, visual stress, and migraine. Understanding the connection between the visual and pain pathways in the brain is the first step to understanding why NeuroSpectral Regulation works, and why the most effective migraine prevention requires addressing your brain’s unique response to light.
Light has profound effects on the brain well beyond perception or sight. From the beginning of time light has had the special power to regulate biology. We have long known that light from the sun regulates human circadian biological rhythms—from when to wake to body temperature and hormone secretion. Our eyes contain sensors for both seeing and those that unconsciously regulate our brain. These sensors connect with areas deep within the brain that control bodily physiology and specifically those that regulate pain. As such, modern neuroscience has shown the brain is wired for light to regulate pain and associated physical symptoms. Light has the power to both create and to prevent pain.
But not all the wavelengths of light, the parts of the electromagnetic spectrum which we experience as different colors, have equal power to regulate pain. Our research has shown that the power of different colors to stimulate deep brain nuclei, related to both pleasure and pain, depends very much on the individual. While the origins of these differences are not yet known, they have implications for the power of light to have a unique influence on us and important implications for migraine prevention.
Migraines are associated with waves of overactivity in the brain, particularly in the visual system. Between migraines, the propensity for this overactivity is associated with light sensitivity or photophobia. More than just a sign, this light sensitivity can contribute to or cause future migraines. This photophobia can manifest itself directly as pain, or as a condition of increased pain (hyperalgesia) or pain susceptibility (allodynia). For some, the everyday experience of light can be a vulnerability towards migraine. Everyday exposure to certain wavelengths of light may unknowingly create the conditions for future migraines.
Much like during migraine, the brains of individuals with photophobia are hyper-reactive to visual stimulation, which is associated with variety of visual and physical symptoms. When precisely tinted spectral filters are worn to filter light and visual signals specifically for the individual, this brain activity normalizes. Brain imaging studies show this change is immediate with the correct color mixture formula. The wrong color formula can thus worsen symptoms and create abnormal, overactive brain activity.
A recent scientific study examined photophobia and its treatment in 392 individuals following traumatic brain injury who experienced episodic and chronic migraines. Monthly migraine frequency decreased significantly from an average of 15 migraines per month to 2, with 74% reporting no migraines during the previous month when wearing custom formulated NSR-M lenses. Prescription and over-the-counter medication use also decreased by more than 50%. NSR-M lenses impacted migraine sufferers’ daily function, reducing their degree of disability from migraines (HIT-6 score) from “severe” to “little or none” after 4-12 weeks of use. Many other types of migraine treatments report significantly reduced HIT-6 scores, but statistically significant results don’t always translate to clinically impactful change. By comparison, many migraine treatments leave individuals with severe migraine disability, even after treatment.
Why Does Individualized Color Matter?
Unlike single color migraine glasses, such as FL-41 lenses, NSR-M lenses do not block out the light in a single part of the wavelength spectrum. Instead, they are precision tinted to filter the light to varying degrees across the entire visual spectrum in a way that is unique to each individual’s neurological needs. In this way, NSR-M lenses are not “colored” lenses, like blue blockers. They adjust all wavelengths to varying degrees in a way that make the world look just right. NSR-M provides a unique lens for each individual’s brain and its particular photosensitivity.
The science supporting phototherapy for pain management and migraine prevention is ever advancing. Follow our science blog for coverage of the scientific advances in migraine prevention and treatment.
In a study of 392 migraine sufferers, the most effective spectral filter varied greatly among participants in both color and density, usually filtering light across the entire visual spectrum to different degrees. While on average, consistent with existing research, portions of the middle of the spectrum (i.e., green light) were not migraine sensitive, even very specific greens remained migraine vulnerabilities for some. These results also demonstrate that stock migraine lenses may filter light toward an individual’s migraine vulnerability, decreasing migraine photosensitivity in some but worsening it in others. Individualization of optimal spectral filtering was so specific that no two study participants received the exact same formula.