研究顯示 睡覺時暴露於光線下可能引發抑鬱症大綱

Any kind of light past bedtime -- from a gap in the curtains to a flash of your smartphone -- could pave the way to depression, new research warns.

新研究警告稱，睡眠時任何種類的光線--無論是從窗簾縫隙透出的光，還是智能手機的閃光--都可能爲罹患抑鬱症創造條件。

Researchers found even the smallest hint of light exposure in the bedroom during the night could cause depressive symptoms by confusing your body clock.

研究人員發現，夜間臥室裏哪怕一絲光亮，都可能通過干擾你的生物鐘而造成抑鬱症狀。

Previous studies have linked nocturnal light exposure to a disruption in the body's sleep-wake cycle, but have struggled to explain how this impacts depression.

先前的研究在夜晚臥室光線和身體的睡眠-覺醒週期受干擾之間找到了關聯，但科學家一直未能很好解釋這如何影響抑鬱症風險。

While the new study by researchers at Nara Medical University does not solve the mystery, it provides some of the clearest evidence to date that the link is stronger than most realize.

雖然日本奈良縣立醫科大學的研究人員進行的這項新研究沒有解開這個謎題，但它提供的一些迄今爲止最明確的證據表明，有關聯繫比大多數人意識到的要強。

Researchers led by Dr Kenji Obayashi recruited 863 elderly adults, with the average age of 72 years, who did not have depressive symptoms -- anxiety or a persistent feeling of sadness -- at the start of the two-year study.

由大林賢史博士領導的研究人員，共招募了863名平均年齡爲72歲的老年人。在這一爲期兩年的研究的初期，這些老人並沒有抑鬱症狀--焦慮或長期的悲傷感。

They measured light levels in their room by placing light meters at the heads of everyone's bed to determine the amount of light their subjects would see while going to sleep.

研究人員測量了這些老人房間的光線水平。他們將測量儀器放在每個人的牀頭，以判斷老人入睡時會看到的光量。

About 710 participants slept in a completely dark room, while the rest of the subjects were exposed to light at night.

大約710人睡在完全黑暗的房間內，而其餘的人在夜間會暴露於光線下。

The participants were also asked to keep sleep diaries and completed surveys that monitored the development of depressive symptoms.

研究人員還要求這些老人記睡眠日記，並完成一些調查，以監視他們抑鬱症狀的發展。

Researchers found that compared to the dark group, people exposed to more than 5 lumens of light at night had a significantly higher risk of developing depressive symptoms.

研究人員發現，同黑暗組的人相比，晚上接觸超過5勒克斯的人出現抑鬱症狀的風險要高得多。

This isn't the first study to link nocturnal light exposure to the mood disorder.

這不是第一個將夜間光照同情緒失調相聯繫的研究。

Research published in a 2009 issue of Behavioral Brain Research found mice that were put in a room that was lit 24 hours a day had more depressive symptoms than those that had a normal light-dark cycle.

2009年美國《行爲大腦研究》雜誌上發表的一項研究發現，相比生活在正常的光照-黑暗週期中的小鼠，被放在全天24小時明亮的房間內的小鼠存在更多的抑鬱症狀。