Interesting article in Treehugger posits that exploding global rates of myopia – nearsightedness – might be caused by children’s lack of exposure to daylight. Here’s the punchline: While some researchers think more data is needed to confirm the theory, animal experiments further support the idea that being outdoors, and exposure to the light that comes with it, is protective. The leading hypothesis, explains Dolgin, is that light stimulates the release of dopamine in the retina, and this neurotransmitter in turn blocks the elongation of the eye during development. Based on epidemiological studies, Ian Morgan, a myopia researcher at the Australian … Continue reading nearsightedness and daylight