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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Even low light before bed can disrupt sleep-hormone cycles

In some people, faint evening light is enough to delay the normal rise in melatonin.
A worker stands in front of a shelf with screws in the workshop of a blacksmith lit by overhead lamps

Exposure to light during the evening delays the hormonal surge that helps to prepare the body for sleep. Credit: Florian Gaertner/Photothek/Getty

Humans differ widely in their sensitivity to low levels of light in the evening, which could explain why late exposure to artificial light worsens the sleep and health of some — but not all — people.

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Nature 570, 9 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01703-8

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