Light At Nighttime Creates Brain Changes Related To Depression

Psych Central:

Exposure to even a dim night-time light may cause physical changes in the brain linked to depression, according to an Ohio State University hamster study.

Read the whole story: Psych Central

Comments

[Willow-the-Witch]

06:10 PM on 11/29/2010

Sleep deprivation can cause depressive symptoms and depression can cause disruption in sleep. It's a vicious cycle, However, I've seen lots of people have improvement in their moods when they are able to get uninterrupted sleep. Light (or TVs or other stimuli) can cause short awakenings that affect the sleep cycle and a person wouldn't necessarily even know the arousals were happening.

[Ramblin Joe]

03:59 PM on 11/28/2010

It's simple: get sone cheap eyeshades (like the kind they hand out on planes) and light is no longer a problem. Great for daytime naps, too.

[optimist7]

10:40 PM on 11/29/2010

Is it just the exposure of the eyelids to the light that causes the problem, or would exposure of the face or the rest of the body to light have the same effect?

[Elizabeth Kipp]

03:03 PM on 11/26/2010

Light At Night Creates Changes in Brain Related to Depression" is a mis-leading title for the research this article references. The study subjected the treated group of hamsters to 16 hrs of 150 lux followed by 8 hours of 5 lux of light.This cycle was repeated for 8 weeks. There were 3 findings in this study relating to light exposure at night:
1.Less dense dendritic spines in the hippocampi of the hamsters' brains are formed.

2.The treated hamsters drank less sugar water.

3. and no differences were found in the stress hormone cortisol levels between the treated and control group.

Drinking less sugar water as sign of depression in the treated hamsters is only an INFERENCE, it is NOT proven in the referenced article. How does one quantify depression in hamsters? This study had interesting results, but inference and proof are two different things regarding the depression. The co-author, Randy Nelson, of Ohio State Univ. pointed out the finding in this study when he said: "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to document that light at night is a sufficient stimulus to induce changes in the hippocampus, without changes in cortisol." This co-author stated the significant finding of this study beautifully.

[eLucida]

10:14 PM on 11/29/2010

F&F for using scientific reasoning; apparently totally missing in this report.

[realitytrumpsbull]

11:44 AM on 11/26/2010

If you don't get regular sleep, that can be very depressing. And, in our 24/7/365 world, there's a lot of sleep-deprived people. But, good luck shutting off the lights, or the cars, or the televisions, or the computers, or the telephones of the 21st century. Technology disrupts people's lives.

[SierraNevadaOnTap]

10:50 AM on 11/26/2010

but if there is no light the monsters will come out get you!

[RichieB]

03:32 PM on 11/27/2010

Yep, that's what I'm worried about. lol

[freddsky]

03:16 AM on 11/26/2010

I can think of nothing more depressing than stumbling over furniture or falling down the stairs due to insufficient light. Maybe one more thing: stumbling or falling because I forgot to take off the sleep mask. Balance, people.

[JHKH]

09:01 PM on 11/25/2010

There is no total darkness in my neighborhood. The street lights are on all night casting a dim, but very noticeable light through the night -- you can navigate (slowly) without turning on lights. Does the perception of light mean via the optic nerve only? Or, does it apply to light in general? Can we extrapolate the hamster findings to humans?

[Alaskan99577]

03:52 AM on 11/25/2010

I don't know, in the summer when it's light all that time, including when we're sleeping, Alaskans are at our happiest. Come this time of year and it's dark at 5 in the afternoon, and we need to break out the vodka to get through the day.

[Kevin from Cali]

12:57 AM on 11/25/2010

The darker the room the better my sleep

[whiteconch]

03:08 PM on 11/24/2010

as a mouse, i've always known this to be true.

[VanessaFas]

02:56 PM on 11/24/2010

What do you do if your kids are scared of the dark? They need nightlights. And I read in bed by a small light. Is all this wrong? Or are hamsters COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than humans? Maybe they should do a human-based physiology study, and then we can see what those results say.

[wm1066]

03:01 PM on 11/24/2010

Maybe you could take the time and sleep with your kids in a dark room so they can learn not to be afraid of the dark. You don't have to sleep this way forever, just a few nights to show the kids they don't have to be afraid.

[Phoebe917]

03:16 PM on 11/24/2010

my kids slept with my husband and i quite frequently. we didn't mind, in fact it was a comfort for all of us to be in one big bed. the oldest one left our bed when the younger one invaded. now they are grown and they sleep in total darkness. as do I. i know there is a lot of controversy about letting your children sleep with you, but it seemed natural and my grown kids are very independent and successful.

[IhrePapiereBitte]

12:37 PM on 11/24/2010

Escaped hamster savages family.............

[Changeizgood]

11:06 AM on 11/24/2010

youtube search 7 circuits of the brain.

Save yourself black woman.

[AxelDC]

10:31 AM on 11/24/2010

Probably because they aren't getting enough sleep.

[sixtoes]

07:14 AM on 11/24/2010

I've been on graveyards for the last 25 years because that's what I prefer. I've never needed medication for depression because I've never been depressed. I feel surprisingly non-depressed about being an exception to this apparent rule.

[yellowdoggie]

03:15 PM on 11/24/2010

Apparently, you are also exceptional in the toes department.