Software developers have been very concerned about our eyes lately. Over the past year or so, we've seen a multitude of night mode updates for Android and iOS smartphones, and a number of popular apps have added similar color-changing dark mode features. of the interface in darker tones. The creators of applications and devices have not hesitated with the new functions either; You have no doubt noticed that your mobile device has asked you if you want to switch to night mode during twilight hours. Night mode aims to make it easier to sleep by changing the color tone of your device's screen from a cooler blue light to a warmer yellow light, as it was originally thought to expose your eyes to cooler light after sunset. it could affect your ability to fall asleep. But that advice can be rejected, according to the results of a new study led by Dr Tim Brown of the University of Manchester. Research by the team, which has been done in mice, has suggested that the exact opposite is true: Using cool, dim lights at night and bright, warm lights during the day is less disruptive to our body clock.
true blue
It's because our bodies read the fainter, bluer twilight as a signal that we need to sleep, while the warmer, brighter daylight tells us to be awake. Our biological clock uses melanopsin, a light-sensitive protein in our eyes, to measure brightness. It's also better at detecting shorter-wavelength photons, such as blue light, which is why the belief began that blue light had a stronger effect on sleep patterns. The researchers found that it's the screen's brightness levels, rather than the color spectrum, that affect our body clock; the most important thing is to reduce the amount of bright light that you are exposed to, rather than what color. In their study, the researchers used lighting that could adjust color without changing brightness, and found that blue colors showed weaker effects on the mice's body clocks than equally bright yellow colors. "We show that the common view that blue light has the strongest effect on the clock is incorrect; in fact, blue colors associated with twilight have a weaker effect than white or yellow light of equivalent brightness," says the Dr Brown. His team hopes his findings will have "important implications for the design of lighting and visual displays aimed at ensuring healthy patterns of sleep and alertness." Since the study was done in mice, the implications of it for humans and our use of smart devices are still unclear, though Dr. Brown says there's good reason to believe his results apply to us, too. Perhaps, however, the secret to a better night's sleep is much simpler: just turn it off.