Find yourself tossing and turning after checking e-mail on your smartphone or tablet before bed? Blame your body for being slow to catch up with modern times. As Stanford sleep expert John Peachey, PhD, explains today in a Real Business piece:
In the long span of human existence, we have had limited time to adapt to artificial light in the last 200 years. Humans evolved to essentially sleep with the sun. Because the brain assumes all light is sunlight, nighttime light exposure tricks the brain into believing the sun has not yet set, and therefore results in continued alertness.
Peachy and two other sleep experts, including Stanford's Michelle Primeau, MD, go on to provide a few tips on how to "see the light and still get your Zs."
Previously: Can adjusting your mobile device’s brightness help promote better sleep?
Photo by Johan Larrson
