Candlelight creates a cognitive atmosphere conducive to encoding meaningful spatial memories.
Photo: Pinterest
Spatial memory is the ability to understand and recall the arrangement of objects within an environment, a critical cognitive skill that facilitates navigation, object location recognition, and effective interaction with complex spatial arrangements. The efficient functioning of spatial memory enables individuals to adapt to their surroundings and perform complex tasks more effectively. Among the environmental factors enhancing spatial memory, lighting plays a pivotal role.
Optimal lighting conditions do more than support visual perception; they enhance cognitive processes, including attention and memory. Proper lighting enables individuals to process spatial arrangements more swiftly and accurately by creating a visual environment conducive to clear perception. Additionally, lighting characteristics such as intensity, color temperature, and continuity are known to influence cognitive performance significantly.
Lighting does more than just illuminate spaces; it evokes powerful emotions and memories. Take, for example:
Sunset Lighting: The golden hues of sunsets often remind people of serene summer evenings, filled with cherished moments like family gatherings, quiet walks, or simply relaxing outdoors. These warm tones create an environment of comfort and nostalgia, which indirectly enhances mood and supports memory retention.
Candlelight: The soft, flickering glow of candlelight often invokes romantic or reflective memories, such as intimate dinners, celebrations, or moments of contemplation. This type of light fosters relaxation and focus, creating a cognitive atmosphere conducive to encoding meaningful spatial memories.
Incorporating such emotional associations in lighting design—for example, using warm-toned artificial lights during evenings—can transform spaces into environments that not only support cognitive performance but also nurture emotional well-being. By mimicking the effects of natural sunset or candlelight, designers can create personalized settings that reinforce positive experiences and enhance spatial memory through mood enhancement.
In this context, natural and artificial lighting offer distinct advantages. Natural lighting, enriched by the full spectrum of sunlight, is long associated with positive cognitive outcomes. It supports circadian rhythms and fosters alertness, crucial for memory and attention processes. Furthermore, the shadows and contrasts created by natural light aid in spatial perception.1
Artificial lighting, evolving to counter the limitations of natural light, has grown into a sophisticated alternative capable of simulating and, in some cases, surpassing the effects of natural light. Modern technologies, such as LEDs, allow for the customization of light intensity and color temperature to suit specific cognitive needs.
Let’s take a further look at the role of natural and artificial lighting in shaping spatial memory and evaluate how these lighting systems affect cognitive processes. I will identify key factors for optimizing lighting to improve spatial memory and provide practical recommendations for their implementation.
Research has shown that natural light significantly impacts individuals’ spatial memory performance. People in environments illuminated by natural light tend to perform better compared to those in artificially lit settings. This is attributed to natural light’s ability to enhance shadows, contrasts, and surface textures, making spatial cues more perceptible. This, in turn, enables humans to understand environmental relationships more quickly and accurately, encoding these relationships into memory more effectively.
For instance, controlled laboratory studies have revealed that participants exposed to natural daylight excel in various spatial memory and navigation tasks. These tasks involve remembering the locations of objects in a specific environment or finding paths to reach a particular target. Natural light facilitates a more efficient grasp of environmental arrangements, resulting in fewer errors during decision-making processes.
Morning sunlight (cool-toned, blue-rich light), which is prevalent during early morning hours, is highly stimulating due to its higher blue wavelength content. It enhances alertness, focus, and working memory, including spatial memory tasks. Imagine stepping into a sunlit garden in the morning—objects are crisp and well-defined, making it easy to memorize the arrangement of paths, plants, and furniture.
On the other hand, golden-hour lighting (warm, low-intensity light) is the soft, warm light during sunrise or sunset that fosters a sense of calm and relaxation. While its intensity is lower, the emotional resonance of such lighting can positively affect memory consolidation by promoting a stress-free state. For example, walking along a beach at sunset can imprint vivid memories of the location and arrangement of objects (such as the path, horizon, and scattered shells) due to the emotional connection triggered by the warm hues.
Exposure to daylight is fundamental for regulating circadian rhythms, which govern biological processes such as sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, and cognitive performance. Morning exposure to natural light triggers wakefulness and improves cognitive efficiency. This regulated rhythm benefits spatial memory by enhancing focus and enabling individuals to encode and recall environmental cues effectively.
A sunset’s warm tones foster an environment of comfort and nostalgia.
Natural light also reduces stress and improves mood by increasing serotonin production, promoting a sense of well-being. Lower stress levels enhance cognitive processes such as attention and memory. In spatial memory tasks, reduced stress enables individuals to comprehend their environment better and retain the information.
Artificial lighting was initially introduced as a solution to compensate for the absence of natural light. However, early systems struggled to replicate the full spectrum of biological and cognitive benefits provided by natural light. Recent advancements in lighting technology have significantly addressed this limitation. Specifically, tunablewhite light systems and LED technologies have demonstrated the ability to simulate the dynamic properties of natural light, yielding positive effects on cognitive processes and spatial memory.2
Modern artificial lighting systems can support circadian rhythms by mimicking the spectral composition and intensity variations of natural light throughout the day. Tunable-white light systems can adjust color temperature and light intensity to suit user needs. For example, cool white light for morning hours (4000K to 6500K) is ideal for tasks requiring alertness and focus. This type of light replicates the qualities of natural morning sunlight, enhancing cognitive functions, particularly memory and concentration. Warm white light for evening hours (2700K to 3000K) promotes relaxation and comfort. These tones resemble natural sunset light, reducing stress levels and fostering a more conducive environment for learning and memory retention.
Tunable-white light systems can adjust color temperature and light intensity to suit various needs.
Natural lighting has been found to have a notably positive effect on individuals’ spatial memory and task performance. Those exposed to direct daylight achieve significantly better results in recalling spatial information and navigating complex environments. The potential reasons for these effects include:
Regulation of biological clocks: Daylight helps regulate circadian rhythms, contributing to the optimization of cognitive functions.
Visual comfort and sensory stimulation: The homogeneous illumination and full-spectrum light provided by natural light reduce eye strain and enhance focus.
Psychological effects: Daylight increases serotonin levels, improving mood and thereby supporting overall cognitive performance.
These findings emphasize the importance of prioritizing natural lighting in interior design. Specifically, architectural solutions such as large windows, skylights, and other features that allow direct daylight into spaces are recommended, particularly in work environments.
Artificial lighting is an inevitable necessity in settings where access to daylight is restricted. Research indicates that the design of artificial lighting significantly influences its effects.
Designs that mimic natural light: Lighting systems featuring adjustable intensity (dimmers), a broad color spectrum, and flicker-free light sources have been shown to produce positive effects similar to natural lighting. These systems create conditions that support spatial memory and performance.
The negative impacts of poor design include glare, flicker, as well as static and cool light—resulting in disruption of visual comfort, eye strain/attention loss, and adversely influenced biological rhythms, respectively.
These findings emphasize the importance of properly designing artificial lighting systems to replicate the positive effects of natural light. LED-based systems with adjustable color temperature and energy-efficient features are ideal for achieving this goal.
Integrating natural and artificial lighting has proven to deliver the best outcomes by leveraging the advantages of both systems.
Artificial lighting enhanced by natural light: Artificial lighting used during limited daylight hours or in the later parts of the day complements natural lighting effectively. Systems that automatically adjust based on the direction and intensity of natural light have shown positive biological and psychological effects.3
Spatial and functional design: Hybrid lighting approaches are tailored to the purpose of the space, offering a more effective experience. For instance, in office environments, placing workstations near windows to maximize the benefits of natural light, supplemented by artificial lighting, creates an optimal lighting setup.
Psychosocial benefits: Hybrid systems promote greater comfort and satisfaction among users. This positively impacts cognitive performance and overall well-being.4
Photos: Sinem Sarialioglu
Sunrise (top), afternoon (center), and sunset (bottom). Natural light enhances shadows, contrasts, and surface textures, making spatial cues more perceptible.
Then, there is the option of considering specialty lighting for specific tasks. For example, high-intensity task lighting is bright, concentrated light that is often used for detailed tasks like reading, crafting, or map navigation. Such lighting improves spatial memory by enhancing focus on the immediate workspace. Picture a study desk illuminated by a focused LED lamp that helps students remember the spatial layout of study materials and reference books.2
Decorative lighting—both artistic and thematic—offers illumination with distinctive designs or colors (e.g., neon signs or string lights) that create memorable focal points within an environment. These visual anchors aid spatial recall by associating specific areas with their unique lighting. We see this option in action in cafés with whimsical string lights hanging above seating areas, which recall table arrangements and pathways more vividly due to the distinctive lighting’s visual impact.
Balanced lighting design—integrating natural and artificial systems—is crucial for creating environments that support visual comfort and cognitive performance. Designers should include prioritizing natural light, adopting adaptive artificial lighting systems, and educating stakeholders on lighting’s cognitive implications. This holistic approach will ensure optimal conditions for spatial memory and overall well-being.
THE AUTHOR | Sinem Sarialioglu is a senior lighting designer at Ghafari Associates with more than a decade of experience working on industrial and architectural projects.
1. David Baeza Moyano, Mónica San Juan Fernández, and Roberto Alonso González Lezcano, “Towards a Sustainable Indoor Lighting Design: Effects of Artificial Light on Emotional States,” Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12, May 2020.
2. Sohel Uddin et al., “LEDs as energy efficient lighting systems: A detail review,” 2011 IEEE Student Conference on Research and Development, Cyberjaya, Malaysia, 2011.
3. Jack Falcón et al., “Exposure to Artificial Light at Night and the Consequences for Flora, Fauna, and Ecosystems,” Frontiers in Neuroscience, Nov. 16, 2020.
4. Héctor Antonio Solano Lamphar and Miroslav Kocifaj, “Light Pollution in Ultraviolet and Visible Spectrum: Effect on Different Visual Perceptions,” PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 2, Feb. 2013.