A research published in the journal PLOS is the first one to reveal about a neural mechanism with regard to how the internal clock measures the changes present during day and night.

As per the research, the color of light could have significant impact on the way the brain’s clock measures the time of the day. For the study, the researchers looked at light color during different times of the day in order to know whether or not it could be used to know the time.

Research was carried out on mice. The team of researchers has also recorded electrical activity from the brain clock when mice showed a variety of visual stimuli. It was found that many of the brain’s neurons responded more strongly to changes in color than brightness.

As a part of the research, the scientists simulated an artificial sky that replicated the natural light color changes. Nocturnal animals that were exposed to the same for more than a month were having the highest body temperatures just after the dusk.

In a scenario where just the brightness of sky was changed and not the light color, the mice became more active after dusk. It suggested that their biological clock was not working properly.

“This is the first time that we've been able to test the theory that [color] affects our body clock in any mammal. It has always been very hard to separate the change in [color] to the change in brightness”, said study’s lead researcher Timothy Brown from the Faculty of Life Sciences.

Brown affirmed that the most exciting part of the study is that the same findings can be applied on humans. Therefore, it can be said that color can be used to manipulate human clocks.