Laboratory Analysis: Colours Affecting Blood Pressure

Colours have a significant role in our day to day lives yet we know very little about them. Many individuals will not understand that colours could be affecting their emotions or physical behaviour at that moment. Marketing agents use different colours to sell their products. The colour red for instance grabs the attention of many viewers and therefore industries use the red colours to sell their products. While marketing agents use the colour red to get consumers to buy their products, the colour red also has a significant role in emotions. The colour red portrays anger, intimacy and therefore it is often associated with individuals who feel angered. When I went to the university for a medical learning program we got to participate in many different activities around the medical campus.

One of the major activities was to put us in a stimulus of a real life doctor’s office where we had to take the blood pressure of the patient. While I was in the office, I noticed that the surroundings were pretty bland and did not have much colour on them besides the few posters on “washing hands, ” This piqued my interest as I was intrigued as to why there weren’t many other colours in the room besides black and white. This led me to continue the investigate on how colors affect blood pressure and examine if there was any potential to reason as to why there was not as many colours in the doctor’s office. I decided to take my learning a step further by discovering that colours played a huge role in not just blood pressure but in other workplaces as well. Research Question: How do different colours (red, yellow, blue, and green) affect the blood pressure of an individual compared to the normal blood pressure. Background Information: There are both scientific and psychological effects that colours have on our brainand our body systems.. Colours plays a much important role than just for the esthetique pleasure of individuals. They have a much more important role in determining our emotions and controlling our body systems. Scientists and psychologists believe that colours are one of the most important reasons as to how we change in behavior and the reasoning behind it. “Colour is perceived by human eyes when different wavelengths composing white light are selectively interfered by matter.” In the retina at the back of our eyes, there are little light sensitive cones which are used to send electrochemical signals. There are about six millions cones that with pigments that recognize and are sensitive to the colours red, green or blue. The sensitivity of light in the retina are created through transmissions of high level light intensity.

The light intensity with the electrochemical signals towards the brain where images are perceived. The visual cortex of our brain helps the individual to understand and comprehend what is being seen. Along with this system, there are retinal ganglion cells (“ relay visual information from their cell soma located in the retina, through their axons which project along the optic nerve to the brain”). These cells also respond to light but they send their signals mainly to the central part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain which is responsible for the secretion of hormones that will help to regulate the body systems. These body systems include temperature, sleep, hunger and circadian system. The retinal ganglion cells helps to understand the effect that the colours have on the body systems which also includes how it affects the blood pressures. Statistical Analytics have tested the many effects that colours have on blood pressure. Colours are not only studied by scientists but psychologists also believe that there is a connection between the emotions and the colours an individual sees. Through psychological studies, it has been perceived that the different colours weigh a significantly different way on the emotions of individuals. The colour red is known for increasing heart and pulse rate. It also raises your blood pressure due to the increasing heart rate which means that the heart has to pump faster in order to distribute the blood to the body.

Due to this, it causes pressure to build in the arteries which leads to the increasing of blood pressure. It is also proven that the colour red also increases your metabolism rate which increases the appetite. Due to this restaurant tend to use more of the colour red. While this is all the effects the colour red has on the body systems, the colour red also has an effect on emotion. It is used to show excitement towards something or portray anger. The colour yellow is known to show symptoms of happiness and positivity. The colour yellow also has the moreover the same underlying effects that the colour red does on your body. It increases the pulse and heart rate which also raises the blood pressure of the individual. The colour green is often portrayed as a restful and peaceful colour. It is one of the comforting colors “ that attracts harmonious feelings that can diffuse anxiety and helps us stay calm and refreshed” Due to the calming effects it has on the body, this reduces the pressure in the arteries concluding that when looking at the colour green, the blood pressure will be significantly less to the initial pressure taken. The colour blue has many of the similar attributes that the colour green portrays. With this colour there is a feeling of calming and relaxation. It is also gentle and has “tremendous power to manage stress. ” Due to the soothing color, it helps calm your mind, slow down your heart rate, lower your blood pressure and release anxiety. Hypothesis: When referring back to the background information, I believe that the colours red and yellow will significantly increase the systolic and diastolic pressure of the individual compared to the normal blood pressure first taken.

On the contrary the colours blue and green will significantly decrease the systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to the normal pressure taken. Variables: Manipulated Variable: The different colours- red, yellow, green, blue, and purple Responding Variable: Systolic Blood Pressure Diastolic Blood Pressure Controlled Variable: Age of the individual (16) The area where the individual is sitting The time to look at the coloured paper (2 minutes for each paper) Time given to rest before starting the procedure (5 minutes) The left arm will be used while taking the blood pressure Age of the individual:Keeping the age as a controlled variable is very important because for different age groups, their normal blood pressure would be significantly different than an individual who is of sixteen years of age. As an individual starts to age, the blood vessels lose their flexibility which results in an increase in pressure. Keeping the age constant will lead to more accurate results. The area where the individual is sitting: The area where the individual is sitting should remain constant to avoid change in the results as they would be looking at the same place. Also create uniformity of the results as each individual had the same area to sit which will avoid favorability and change in results. The time to look at the colour: The time for each individual to look at each colour should remain constant. The longer an individual looms at a colour or shorter amount of time an individual looks at a colour could affect the results negatively. If not monitored then some individuals could have significantly different results due to the extra time they had to look at the specific colour. This will decrease the consistency in the results.

Time given to rest before the procedure: An individual will be given five minutes to rest before starting the procedure. This is because it is important for an individual to relax and sit quietly to control their breathing rate. This is due to the fact that when an individual exercises (walks to the place) their heart rate speeds up and causes the blood to move faster through the body. This results in high pressure in the arteries which results in higher blood pressure. Having given and individual time to rest before the procedure will calm the individual and their heart rate will slow down to normal which will give more accurate results. The arm which is used during the test: The left arm will be a control during the test to maintain consistency throughout all the results. Different arms can have different blood pressures such as an increase up to 10 mmHg. Equipment:4 different colours of poster paper (yellow, red, green, blue) Masking type stopwatch Chair Sphygmomanometer.

Procedure: Make sure before starting the test, the individual did not drink coffee or partake in any physical activities before the experiment. The test subject was asked to sit in a chair for five minutes before the start of the test. After five minutes were up, use the sphygmomanometer to check the normal blood pressure of the individual Make sure when taking the blood pressure, the individual is not talking, their feet are flat on the ground and the cuff is placed on the left arm to avoid any changes in results After first blood pressure was taken, get the test subject to sit for two minutes to relax. As the test subject sits for two minutes, tape one of the four poster papers on the wall After the two minutes were over, time the test subject looking at the coloured paper for two minutes After the two minutes, take the blood pressure of the test subject After the blood pressure was taken give the test subject two minutes to relaxContinue steps 6-9 for the next coloured paper.