Light at night ‘can put you in dark mood’
November 18th, 2010 - 2:02 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Nov 18 (ANI): A new study has shown that exposure to even dim light at night is enough to cause physical changes in the brains of hamsters that may be linked to depression.
Scientists found that female Siberian hamsters exposed to dim light every night for eight weeks showed significant changes in a part of the brain called the hippocampus.
This is the first time researchers have found that light at night, by itself, may be linked to changes in the hippocampus.
These alterations may be a key reason why the researchers also found that the hamsters exposed to dim light at night showed more depressive symptoms when compared to hamsters in a standard light-dark cycle.
“Even dim light at night is sufficient to provoke depressive-like behaviors in hamsters, which may be explained by the changes we saw in their brains after eight weeks of exposure,” said Tracy Bedrosian, co-author of the study and doctoral student in neuroscience at Ohio State University.
The results were presented in San Diego at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. (ANI)
- Sleeping with lights on can leave you depressed - Nov 18, 2010
- Turn off the light at night to lose weight - Oct 12, 2010
- Adolescence sex comes with health risks later - Nov 16, 2011
- Jet lag causes memory loss: Study - Nov 25, 2010
- Too much light at night 'can lead to depression' - Oct 22, 2009
- Nicotine exposure in pregnancy 'puts offspring at learning disabilities risk' - Dec 04, 2010
- Pollution can cause brain damage, depression - Jul 05, 2011
- Exposure to room light before bedtime may impact sleep quality, BP - Jan 13, 2011
- Jet lag clouds memory for a long time - Nov 25, 2010
- Tickling brain part boosts memory cells - Sep 21, 2011
- Depression 'dampens sense of smell' - Aug 13, 2010
- Mother's love triggers bigger brain growth - Jan 31, 2012
- Why a piece of pizza is so tempting after a stressful day - Dec 01, 2010
- Chronic alcohol disrupts body's biological clock - Sep 01, 2009
- Brain 'programmed from birth to recognize day and night cycle' - Apr 30, 2011
Tags: alterations, annual meeting, bedrosian, brains, co author, dark mood, depression, depressive symptoms, dim light, doctoral student, hamsters, hippocampus, neuroscience, ohio state university, part of the brain, physical changes, san diego, scientists, siberian hamsters, time researchers