The brain-targeted bright light therapy via the ear canal is an effective mechanism to relieve seasonal depression, according to the first results of the clinical and neurobiological research program conducted by Valkee and University of Oulu.

Valkee, the creator of the bright light headset, has been working on human brain's light sensitiveness with scientists from the University of Oulu since 2007 and has announced publishing of the clinical trial in Medical Hypothesis.

The trial studied therapeutic effects of bright light channeled into the human brain via the ear canal. During the trial, the patients received 8-12 minutes of 6.0-8.5 lumen bright light daily into both ear canals for four weeks.

A medical device manufactured by Valkee, called bright light headset was used for this trial. Launched by Valkee in August 2010, this bright-light headset today has a broad user base. 

"The results are strong and promising. 92 percent of the patients with severe seasonal affective disorder achieved full remission measured by the self-rated BDI-21 questionnaire. With the psychiatrist-rated HAMD-17 questionnaire, 77 percent of the patients achieved full remission", said Professor Markku Timonen, MD, PhD, and the lead investigator for the published trial at the University of Oulu.

Valkee introduced its bright-light headset in August 2010 and has today broad user base. Valkee is a CE-certified Class II (a) medical device under the EU regulations and is based on cross-functional science in neurology, biology, psychiatry and physiology in University of Oulu, Finland.

"There is no conclusive evidence that light therapy is only transmitted through the eyes. Therefore, we challenged the existing paradigm by showing that the brain-targeted bright light therapy via the ear canal is an effective mechanism to relieve seasonal depression", said Juuso Nissilä, Valkee's co-founder and chief scientist.

Valkee headset is also known to reduce motoric reaction times.