Scientists have found that using a smartphone before bed helps you fall asleep

American researchers decided to find out how the use of a smartphone and TV, as well as reading books affect sleep. They analyzedThe complicated impact of media use before bed on sleep: Results from a combination of objective EEG sleep measurement and media diaries / Journal of Sleep Research exposure to various content (TV shows, podcasts, novels) and the chosen place for such relaxation - for example, in the bedroom or in the living room. Multitasking was also taken into account: for example, if a research participant simultaneously watched TV and flipped through the news feed on a smartphone.

The experiment involved 58 people. To get meaningful results, they were taught how to use an electroencephalograph. In previous experiments, questionnaires were used instead of EEG assessment, but sometimes the assessment of sleep quality in individual participants in the studies was not accurate enough or subjective.

The co-author of the study noted:

Scientists have found that if you scroll through the news feed on your smartphone or watch a video before going to bed for a relatively short period of time, you will fall asleep faster. At the same time, it is important to do only one thing, for example, do not try to correspond in the messenger and at the same time follow the events of the film.

The researchers added that passive consumption of content, such as listening to a podcast or watching TV series, is calming and thus improves various aspects of sleep.

In another study, conductedPre-sleep social media use does not strongly disturb sleep: a sleep laboratory study in healthy young participants / Sleep Medicine Swiss scientists, 32 volunteers spent four nights in the sleep lab. During the first night, they learned to sleep in caps with electroencephalography electrodes and adapted to the conditions of the experiment. Participants were then offered 30 minutes of audio recordings of muscle relaxation exercises or 30 minutes of social media browsing before bed.

The researchers found that in this format, the social media feed had no effect on sleep quality scores. But after listening to the relaxation exercises, the volunteers slept better.

At the same time, scientists have recognized: half an hour with a smartphone in hand will delay going to bed. Therefore, you will sleep worse if you have to get up early.

Formerly Andrew Przybylski of the University of Oxford studied impact of smartphones on sleep in children. He found that every hour of screen time reduces sleep by an average of 3-8 minutes, so it does not have too much effect on night's rest.

However, scientists are just beginning to find patterns in the effect of gadgets on sleep. Therefore, it is quite possible that we will soon learn about new unexpected findings in this direction.