Depression may be a side effect of the lighting students are around as they burn the midnight oil, according to a new study.
Ohio State professor of neuroscience and psychology Randy Nelson co-authored a study that used nocturnal hamsters to test the effect of various lights on mood. The hamsters were put through a series of night tests measuring their endurance and energy after they were exposed to dim white, dim blue, dim red and no light. He found hamsters tended to express depression-like symptoms, including drinking less sugar water, usually a treat for hamsters, when exposed to blue and white light, less so by red light and were most normal when they were not exposed to light at night. Read more.