This is some of the pervasive messages about technology and sleep. We're told that vibrant, blue light from screens keeps us from falling asleep easily. We're told to avoid scrolling on our phones before bed or While in bed. We are sold glasses to assist filter out blue light. We put our phones on “night mode” to cut back exposure to blue light.
But what does science actually tell us in regards to the effects of vibrant, blue light and sleep? When our group of sleep experts from Sweden, Australia and Israel compared scientific studies that directly tested this, We found The overall effect was near meaningless. Sleep was interrupted, on average, by lower than three minutes.
We showed the message that blue light from screens prevents you from falling asleep, even though it is a really persuasive one.
Instead, we got a more nuanced picture about technology and sleep.
what did we do
We gathered evidence from 73 independent studies involving a complete of 113,370 participants of all ages that examined various aspects linking technology use and sleep.
We've indeed found a link between technology use and sleep, but not necessarily what you'd think.
We found that sometimes technology use results in poor sleep and sometimes poor sleep results in overuse of technology. In other words, the connection between technology and sleep is complex and might go each ways.
How does technology harm sleep?
Technology has been proposed to harm our sleep in some ways. But once we checked out the evidence, here's what we found:
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Bright screen light – In 11 experimental studies, individuals who used a vibrant screen that emits blue light before bed fell asleep a mean of just 2.7 minutes later. In some studies, people sleep higher after using a vibrant screen. once we were invited To construct on this evidence, we showed that screen brightness still had no significant effect on other sleep characteristics, including total sleep quantity or quality.
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Encouragement It's a measure of whether people develop into more alert depending on what they're doing on their device. In seven studies, individuals who engaged in additional alert or “exciting” content (eg, video games) in comparison with individuals who engaged in something less exciting (eg, TV), had In comparison, only 3.5 minutes of sleep was lost on average. This tells us that technology content alone doesn't affect sleep as much as we expect.
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We found Sleep disturbances At night (eg, being woken up by text messages) and Sleep displacement (Using technology Time passed that we're asleep) can result in sleep deprivation. So while technology use was related to less sleep in these instances, it was unrelated to exposure to vibrant, blue light from screens before bed.
What aspects encourage greater use of technology?
The research we reviewed shows that folks use more technology at bedtime for 2 primary reasons:
There are also some things that could make people more vulnerable to using technology late at night and losing sleep.
We found people who find themselves. Risk takers or who Lose track of time The latter can easily turn off devices and sacrifice sleep. Fear of missing out and social pressure can even motivate young people particularly. Stay later on technology.
What helps us use technology correctly?
Finally, we checked out safety aspects, which could help people use technology more correctly before bed.
The two primary things that helped us were Self controlwhich helps resist the short-term rewards of clicking and scrolling, and fogeys or family members Help set a bedtime..
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Why can we blame blue light?
The blue light theory involves melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep. During the day, we're exposed to vibrant, natural light that incorporates high amounts of blue light. This vibrant, blue light prompts certain cells at the back of our eyes, which sends a signal to our brain that it's time to be alert. But as the sunshine fades at night, our brain starts producing melatonin, which makes us sleepy.
It is logical to think that artificial light from appliances can interfere with the production of melatonin and affect our sleep. But study show It would require a light-weight level of about 1,000-2,000 lux (a measure of sunshine intensity) for a major effect.
Exclusions in regards to the device screen only 80-100 lux. At the opposite end of the dimensions, natural sunlight on a sunny day provides approx. 100,000 lux.
What is the take home message?
We know that vibrant light affects sleep and application. However, our research shows that the sunshine from devices comparable to smartphones and laptops shouldn't be vibrant or near blue enough to disrupt sleep.
There are many aspects that may affect sleep, and vibrant, blue screen light shouldn't be one among them.
The take-home message is that your individual sleep needs and the way technology affects you. Maybe reading an e-book or scrolling through social media is wonderful for you, or possibly you're often putting the phone down too late. Listen to your body and switch off your device if you feel sleepy.