Scientists Discover Your Brain Secretly Glows And It Could Reveal What You're Thinking

Humans may shine more than we think literally. While many creatures are known to glow visibly, studies dating back to 1923 have suggested that humans also emit a faint light called "biophoton emission". Though invisible to the naked eye, this glow could carry important biological information.

In a recent study, biologist Hayley Casey from Algoma University in Canada and her team measured the weak glow coming from the human brain. Remarkably, they found that the intensity of this glow changes based on brain activity. 

The researchers believe this could lead to a new method of monitoring brain health, which they've called "photoencephalography". Though still in its early stages, this approach could one day provide non-invasive insights into brain function and well-being.

"As the first proof-of-concept demonstration that ultraweak photon emissions (UPEs) from human brains can serve as readouts to track functional states, we measured and characterised photon counts over the heads of participants while they rested or engaged in an auditory perception task," they write in their paper.

"We demonstrated that brain-derived UPE signals can be distinguished from background photon measures. Additionally, our results suggest that for a given task, the UPE count may reach a stable value."

Everything in the universe above absolute zero emits thermal radiation, including humans. However, ultra-weak photon emissions (UPEs) are different from this thermal radiation. UPEs occur in near-visible to visible wavelengths and result from electrons releasing photons as they lose energy, a natural part of metabolism. Casey and her team aimed to clearly differentiate brain UPEs from surrounding background radiation and examine whether these emissions show patterns linked to varying levels of brain activity.