Late night computer linked to depression

Sitting in front of a computer or TV screen late into the night or leaving it on when you fall asleep could increase your chances of becoming depressed, according to a study by US scientists.

The study, by a team of neuroscientists at Ohio State University Medical Center partly funded by the US Department of Defense, will give screen-addicted night owls pause for thought.  

`The results we found in hamsters are consistent with what we know about depression in humans,` said Ms Tracy Bedrosian, who led the study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

The researchers - who exposed hamsters to dim light at night and picked up changes in behaviour and the brain that bore striking similarities to symptoms in depressed people - said a surge in exposure to artificial light at night in the last 50 years had coincided with rising rates of depression, particularly among women, who are twice as prone as men.

BdST 1818 HRS, JUL 24, 2012

Edited by:
Sabbin Hasan, ICT Editor