Feeling Blue at Bed Time? Turn on Some Red Light

Feeling blue at night time? A new study suggests that the lighting you see towards the end of the day may be making a big impression on how you mood.

According to researchers from Ohio State University, they used an experiment involving hamsters and blue light, white light and other colors to see how it would affect their typical activities.

Of all the colors, hamsters exposed to red light at night seemed to have less-depressive symptoms than those exposed to the blue or the white light. In fact, those exposed to the blue light seemed to fare the worst. And strangely, the only ones in the study that seemed happier, according to researchers, were those exposed to total darkness.

These findings could provide important information for humans that work night shifts or those suffering from mood disorders that may be worse in winter.

"Our findings suggest that if we could use red light when appropriate for night-shift workers, it may not have some of the negative effects on their health that white light does," Randy Nelson, co-author of the study and professor of neuroscience and psychology at Ohio State University, via a press release.

Researchers analyzed how specialized photosensitive cells in the retina, also known as ipRGC, responded to different colors of light. As these cells don't typically play any role in a person's vision, they are responsible for detecting light and sending messages to the brain. They can also regulate the body's circadian clock that helps control both moods and emotions.

Following a series of studies, researchers concluded that red light was best and blue light was worst.

"In nearly every measure we had, hamsters exposed to blue light were the worst off, followed by those exposed to white light," he said, via the release.  "While total darkness was best, red light was not nearly as bad as the other wavelengths we studied."

So, if you're thinking of getting a nightlight, might be best to get one with some scarlet tones.

More information regarding this study can be found in the Journal of Neuroscience.