Preliminary Results: The Impact of Smartphone Use and Short-Wavelength Light during the Evening on Circadian Rhythm, Sleep and Alertness

Höhn, Christopher; Schmid, Sarah R.; Plamberger, Christina P.; Bothe, Kathrin; Angerer, Monika; Gruber, Georg; Pletzer, Belinda; Hoedlmoser, Kerstin

doi:10.3390/clockssleep3010005

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Preliminary Results: The Impact of Smartphone Use and Short-Wavelength Light during the Evening on Circadian Rhythm, Sleep and Alertness

Christopher Höhn

^1,2,†,

Sarah R. Schmid

^1,2,†,

Christina P. Plamberger

^1,2

^1,2,

^1,2

³,

² and

^1,2,*

Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience Salzburg (CCNS), University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

The Siesta Group, 1210 Vienna, Austria

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

Those authors contribute equally to this work.

Clocks & Sleep 2021, 3(1), 66-86; https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3010005

Received: 30 December 2020 / Revised: 16 January 2021 / Accepted: 18 January 2021 / Published: 22 January 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Pre-Sleep Artificial Light on Cognition and Sleep)

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Abstract

Smartphone usage strongly increased in the last decade, especially before bedtime. There is growing evidence that short-wavelength light affects hormonal secretion, thermoregulation, sleep and alertness. Whether blue light filters can attenuate these negative effects is still not clear. Therefore, here, we present preliminary data of 14 male participants (21.93 ± 2.17 years), who spent three nights in the sleep laboratory, reading 90 min either on a smartphone (1) with or (2) without a blue light filter, or (3) on printed material before bedtime. Subjective sleepiness was decreased during reading on a smartphone, but no effects were present on evening objective alertness in a GO/NOGO task. Cortisol was elevated in the morning after reading on the smartphone without a filter, which resulted in a reduced cortisol awakening response. Evening melatonin and nightly vasodilation (i.e., distal-proximal skin temperature gradient) were increased after reading on printed material. Early slow wave sleep/activity and objective alertness in the morning were only reduced after reading without a filter. These results indicate that short-wavelength light affects not only circadian rhythm and evening sleepiness but causes further effects on sleep physiology and alertness in the morning. Using a blue light filter in the evening partially reduces these negative effects. View Full-Text

Keywords: LED-screens; light exposure; short-wavelength light; blue light filter; sleepiness; slow wave sleep; slow wave activity; melatonin; cortisol; skin temperature

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Höhn, C.; Schmid, S.R.; Plamberger, C.P.; Bothe, K.; Angerer, M.; Gruber, G.; Pletzer, B.; Hoedlmoser, K. Preliminary Results: The Impact of Smartphone Use and Short-Wavelength Light during the Evening on Circadian Rhythm, Sleep and Alertness. Clocks & Sleep 2021, 3, 66-86. https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3010005

AMA Style

Höhn C, Schmid SR, Plamberger CP, Bothe K, Angerer M, Gruber G, Pletzer B, Hoedlmoser K. Preliminary Results: The Impact of Smartphone Use and Short-Wavelength Light during the Evening on Circadian Rhythm, Sleep and Alertness. Clocks & Sleep. 2021; 3(1):66-86. https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3010005

Chicago/Turabian Style

Höhn, Christopher, Sarah R. Schmid, Christina P. Plamberger, Kathrin Bothe, Monika Angerer, Georg Gruber, Belinda Pletzer, and Kerstin Hoedlmoser. 2021. "Preliminary Results: The Impact of Smartphone Use and Short-Wavelength Light during the Evening on Circadian Rhythm, Sleep and Alertness" Clocks & Sleep 3, no. 1: 66-86. https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3010005

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Preliminary Results: The Impact of Smartphone Use and Short-Wavelength Light during the Evening on Circadian Rhythm, Sleep and Alertness

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