Do you read eBooks before bed? It could be having a negative effect on your sleep, according to a new study from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers looked at the sleep quality of people who had read on a light-emitting eReaders before bed and compared the results with the quality of sleep achieved by people who read print books. The report revealed that using devices before bedtime delays the circadian clock and suppresses the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin in the body.
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Participants reading an LE-eBook took longer to fall asleep and had reduced evening sleepiness, reduced melatonin secretion, later timing of their circadian clock, and reduced next-morning alertness than when reading a printed book. These results demonstrate that evening exposure to an LE-eBook phase-delays the circadian clock, acutely suppresses melatonin, and has important implications for understanding the impact of such technologies on sleep, performance, health, and safety.