5 ways to prevent neurodegeneration

Parkinson's | Neuromelanin | Our innermost dark cave of light

Here’s what you’ll learn in this article:

1. How can we build melanin in our brain?

2. How does melanin synthesis occur?

3. Epigenetic impacts on neurodegeneration

4. Why are rates of neurodegeneration increasing?

5. How blue light depletes dopamine

6. Five ways we can prevent neurodegeneration

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasures you seek the most.”

~ Joseph Campell

Buried deep within the cavern of our brain stands a door to everlasting vitality. There is no lock, only the will to walk right through. Many turn their backs upon reaching the threshold, donning black mirrors of sunglasses to avert their gaze, intimidated by the dark mystery contained within. Once inside, this cave of fear becomes our friend, as its dim walls protect us with warmth. The walls of this inner sanctum are coated with a holy black tar that absorbs light from the cosmos so that we may feast for all eternity at the dining halls of the Divine.

This substance is called neuromelanin, and is a dark black-brown pigment that soaks up light so that we may live, just as the leaves of a plant drink in the Sun so that it may bear fruit. Each of us was painted by God with a different brush. Some of us have more layers of protective melanin paint in our bodies that will determine if we will thrive in the mountains or the beach. Those of us who have pale skin, and are of Northern European descent, have less melanin on our skin than someone who has darker skin. However, concentrations of neuromelanin remain fairly consistent among all races, with women having more than men.¹

Our neuromelanin is located within the substantia nigra, which in Latin means “black substance.” Similar to the melanin pigment of our skin, neuromelanin absorbs ultraviolet light, which helps us quell inflammation with the biological by-product of heat generated within our cells. This area of the brain also binds to metal ions in the body like iron, forming a stable complex that can eventually be excreted. Individuals with Parkinson’s (PD) are not able to metabolize iron effectively², which would indicate low levels of neuromelanin. Since an artificial light environment has been correlated with PD, and neuromelanin’s role is to absorb light, we can induce that a natural light environment holds the key.

Substantia nigra with neuromelanin neurons on the left

How do we build melanin in our brain?

The same pathway that builds our skin can be applied here. Research has ³ shown that melanin levels in the skin are increased under the presence of ultraviolet and red wavelengths of light. When we expose ourselves to UV, we build what

Jack Kruse

calls our solar callus. It’s time to callus our brain, so we can deal with the harsh reality of our light environment. Since we’re constantly bathing in many invisible frequencies of light from wireless devices, along with our skies being coated with a primer of aluminum, we need to harness and build the most efficient solar panel within our bodies: melanin.

Have you ever wondered why our iris is black? For the same reason our substantia nigra is also black, and why darker races live in areas of higher solar exposure. Black absorbs all light.

How does melanin synthesis occur?

We may make serotonin in our gut, but digestion begins in our skin and eyes.

Serotonin requires tryptophan, which is created when we absorb ultraviolet (UV) light. Serotonin ultimately creates melatonin. Similarly, our bodies also require UV so that we can create melanin. Our thyroid hormones, along with crucial “feel-good” neurotransmitters like dopamine are derived from tyrosine, which we also absorb under UV light.

As you can see in the picture below by photobiologist (light scientist) Alexander Wunsch, our pituitary, thyroid, thymus, pancreas, and adrenals all require UV light to function properly.

Why is neurodegeneration increasing?

Alzheimer's Disease International predicts that there will be about 135 million cases worldwide by 2050 — up from 44 million cases today.

Is it because we’re all “getting older?”

The World Health Organization (WHO) may want you to think so.

They predict that by 2040, as many developed countries' populations get older, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, dementia, and Parkinson's disease will overtake cancer to become the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular disease.⁴

Or is our environment staying the same age?

The study of epigenetics has shown that 95-99% of all disease is based on how our environment turns certain genes on and off. Only 1-5% of diseases have a pure, unchangeable genetic component.

I hear it all the time: “My grandmother had cancer, my mother had cancer, therefore there’s a good chance I’ll probably have it.” If you stay in the same house, eat the same food, and consume toxic amounts of programming, this could surely be the case. The good news is that we can all be mindful of, and adapt to our environments by removing devices, and physically moving to different locations that may have a stronger, more healing magnetic field.

Why are we “older” than our ancestors?

Before the Industrial Age and the advent of electricity, neurodegenerative disease was extremely rare. Today, many of our fathers and grandfathers have sat in front of screens that emit blue light, instead of a regenerative red-lit fire. Before the 1800s, the only factor that shifted melatonin levels wasn’t a screen, but the light of the moon.⁵

Time to fall asleep (latency) increases as moon becomes full

Desensitization = Neurodegeneration

As it turns out blue light spikes our dopamine, making us feel good in the moment, however we then gradually become less sensitive to dopamine, requiring more than before. Blue light also destroys our ability to make melanin and melatonin, which then doesn’t allow us to make enough dopamine as well.

Could it be that we aren’t “getting older”, but instead are losing our ability to create the hormones that tied us to our ancestral health?

Five ways we can decrease neurodegeneration

1️⃣ Get a tan. This will increase your ability to make melanin. We will cover how to incrementally build your solar callus in future articles.

2️⃣ Wear your glasses at night. If you need to be in front of screens after sunset, you can wear amber-red colored glasses from Ra Optics, or even cheaper ones like Uvex, to limit blue light damage and support melatonin release.

3️⃣ Dress up with no place to go. Our skin also has photoreceptors that absorb blue light, and this is why I wear a scarf when in front a computer. Silk optional. Keep in mind that your thyroid regulates hormones, and this is located close to the skin right on your neck, which is in firing range of blue wavelengths.

4️⃣ Relax in the red light district. There’s nothing better than coming back not to a house, but a home that exudes calm. That’s why we turn our place into a palace of red light at night. We light up a candle or two (beeswax for extra points as these generate negative ions and clean the air), and saturate our abode with red lights like those from SaunaSpace!* Red light therapy has been proven to decrease inflammation and support dopamine production naturally.⁶

You can use the code POWER for 10% off all SaunaSpace products.

Tungsten Infrared Panel

5️⃣ Depending on our age and chronotype, our circadian rhythms may vary. Some of us may stay up later at night. If that’s the case, we encourage you to see the sunset, as this will help you wind down into the evening, rather than being an anxious sundowner full of excess energy. One of the many photoreceptors contained within our eyes and skin is melanopsin, which is particularly sensitive to the absorption of blue light (435nm - 480nm) and will communicate this light frequency to our central clock: the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which then times melatonin release. I equate these melanopsin receptors to our brain’s dimmer switch.

As the sun descends into sleep and the light fades into another’s hopeful horizon, melanopsin comes and sets a curfew for young and all. As the curtain call of night fades away, we set the stage for another day. Let us paint the black door of night with our inner light.

We are more powerful than we know,

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Additional resources:

Red Light and Infrared Therapies for Physical Healing. Part 1: Self-Experiments and Personal Experiences

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1. Locus coeruleus neuromelanin accumulation and dissipation across the lifespan Elizabeth Riley, Nicholas Cicero, Khena Swallow, Eve De Rosa, Adam Anderson bioRxiv 2023.10.17.562814; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.17.562814

2. Gao, Xd., Ding, Je., Xie, Jx. et al. Epigenetic regulation of iron metabolism and ferroptosis in Parkinson’s disease: Identifying novel epigenetic targets. Acta Pharmacol Sin 46, 2075–2092 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-025-01499-6

3. Randhawa M, Seo I, Liebel F, Southall MD, Kollias N, Ruvolo E. Visible Light Induces Melanogenesis in Human Skin through a Photoadaptive Response. PLoS One. 2015 Jun 29;10(6):e0130949. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130949. PMID: 26121474; PMCID: PMC4488093.

4. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/344701/9789240033245-eng.pdf

5. Christian Cajochen, Songül Altanay-Ekici, Mirjam Münch, Sylvia Frey, Vera Knoblauch, Anna Wirz-Justice, Evidence that the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep, Current Biology, Volume 23, Issue 15, 2013, Pages 1485-1488, ISSN 0960-9822, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.029.

6. https://www.parkinsonsnsw.org.au/red-light-therapy-for-parkinsons/#:~