There
are many ways to slide into a good night's sleep -- here, we're
concerned with just one of them: reading. And if you take to bed with a
good book on your tablet, you're doing it wrong.
That's
according to a new study -- a teeny, tiny study -- at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center. RPI found that looking
at a backlit screen, like those on iPads and other tablets, can lead to
sleeplessness.
“Our study shows that a two-hour exposure to light from self-luminous electronic displays
can suppress melatonin by about 22 percent," said Mariana Figueiro, the
lead researcher. “Stimulating the human circadian system to this level
may affect sleep in those using the devices prior to bedtime.”
In
the study, 13 subjects read, watched videos and played games on tablets
with backlit displays for two hours. The subjects were equipped with
devices to measure the light their eyes were receiving, and some wore
goggles that filtered the light they saw.
Results of the study,
titled “Light level and duration of exposure determine the impact of
self-luminous tablets on melatonin suppression,” were recently published
in the journal “Applied Ergonomics.” It was funded by Sharp
Laboratories of America.
Another researcher suggests that
teenagers and young adults, who “tend to be night owls,” may be
particularly sensitive to the tablet light exposure.
What’s a
bedtime reader to do? These results suggest avoiding backlit tablets and
reaching for something else. A text-only Kindle, for example. And paper
books, while old fashioned, work perfectly.
Happy reading, and happy sleeping.
