Sleep Deprivation: Access To Electronics Increases Risk Of Sleep Issues

Going to sleep in front of your phone screen is becoming increasingly common for many Americans. Yet numerous studies show just how dangerous it is for our circadian rhythms. Electronic devices like our cell phones, laptops, tablets and computers can throw off healthy sleep patterns and make it nearly impossible to get a good night's rest.

New findings published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms examined how excessive use of electricity and artificial light ultimately influenced adequate rest.

Researchers at the University of Washington analyzed data from two traditional hunter-gatherer communities, comparing how the groups accessed electricity and documented this use. Furthermore, they studied how this impacted their sleep during an average week in both the summer and the winter.

Researchers believe that sleep-pattern differences observed between communities can be seen as an example of how people likely adapted their sleep behaviors as livelihoods changed and electricity became more readily available.

The participants were given bracelets that tracked slight changes in movement and monitored activity. They also kept sleep diaries during the study period and the researchers visited each group for a week during the summer and the winter.

"In a way, this study presents a proxy of what happened to humanity as we moved from hunting and gathering to agriculture and eventually to our industrialized society," lead study author Horacio de la Iglesia, a University of Washington biology professor, said in a news release. "All the effects we found are probably an underestimation of what we would see in highly industrialized societies where our access to electricity has tremendously disrupted our sleep."

Previous studies have found that artificial light can disrupt the sleep-wake cycle, effectively pushing them back when we turn on the lights in the evening.

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