The effects of illuminance on students′ memory. A neuroarchitecture study

Classroom lighting conditions affect students' academic performance due to the influence of light on learning. Illuminance is a lighting parameter recognised as an important factor in interior lighting. The objective of this study is to analyse the effect that a classroom's illuminance exerts on university students' memories; memory is one of the fundamental cognitive processes in learning. Forty subjects performed a psychological memory task in three immersive virtual environments (IVEs) with different illuminance levels, 100 lx, 300 lx and 500 lx. Their neurophysiological responses were monitored during the tasks through electroencephalogram, heart rate variability and electrodermal activity analysis. The results showed that classroom illuminance influences students' memories at psychological and neurophysiological levels. As illuminance increased, their performance in the memory tests deteriorated, and neurophysiological activation diminished; the best results were obtained with an illuminance level of 100 lx. These results may have important consequences for the energy efficiency of educational centres and provide information about the cognitive implications of lighting for learning in virtual environments. •The effects of illuminance on psychological and neurophysiological responses are analysed.•Low lighting improves (100lx) memory performance.•Low lighting (100lx) increases neurophysiological activation.•The experiments were performed using virtual reality.