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Abstract
There is an established link between poor sleep habits and reduced performance on various
cognitive tasks (Tucker & Fishbein, 2009). Recent research findings have suggested a
physiological pathway which would enable light to influence sleep and wakefulness via non-
visual inputs to the mammalian brain (Hattar et al, 2002). At present the basis of most research
into this pathway have been neuroanatomical in nature. The current study investigated the
possible behavioural effects of sleeping with ambient room lighting. We examined a small subset
of cognitive abilities in young adults before and after sleeping with a nightlight. Our results
indicate that adults perform poorer on retests of numerical logic and memory after sleeping with
a nightlight.
DO NIGHTLIGHTS CAUSE COGNITIVE DETRIMENTS? 2
Does Sleeping with a Nightlight Cause Cognitive Detriments in Children and Adults?
spend a considerable portion of our lives sleeping. Given the substantial time we spend resting it
is surprising how little attention science and academia have devoted to furthering our
understanding of sleep. Only recently have we begun to understand the function of sleep as well
suggests that poor sleep habits are linked to a range of physiological and behavioural problems.
A recent longitudinal study quantified the sleep habits of 98 Israeli school children across their
Kindergarten year. After the group completed grade one researchers compared the children’s
sleep habits with their academic performance. The results showed that the six children who failed
grade one scored significantly worse on various metrics of sleep quality. The children that failed
took almost twice as long to fall asleep and woke up over twice as often as children that passed
(Ravid, Afek, Suraiya, Shahar & Pillar, 2009). Similar links have been found in adults as well.
One study showed that after just two nights of sleeping 5 hours or less adults reported increased
sleepiness throughout the day, performed simple motor tasks with slower reaction times and
scored more negatively on subjective ratings of their mood (Cote, Milner, Smith, Aubin,
We wished to investigate the possible effects the environment a person sleeps in could
have on their quality of sleep. As individuals we demonstrate numerous preferences for our sleep
environments including attire, temperature, mattress selection and, for some, whether or not to
sleep with a nightlight. The current study examined whether sleeping with a nightlight could
cause cognitive detriments during the ensuing day. This hypothesis is supported by research
DO NIGHTLIGHTS CAUSE COGNITIVE DETRIMENTS? 3
suggesting a physiological pathway that enables non-visual light information to affect areas of
This pathway begins at the eyelid of a sleeping human being. One need only glance at the
sun through closed eyes to realize our eyelids do not act as perfect shutters. Ophthalmologic
research into the light exposure neonates endure confirms this. Experimental studies have shown
that up to 38% of polychromatic white light can pass through the neonatal eyelid (Robinson,
Bayliss & Fielder, 1991). Light which crosses the eyelids of a sleeping human proceeds to act
upon the retinal tissue of the eyes within. Contained within this retinal tissue are the classical
vision photoreception cells (the rods and cones) as well as a recently discovered subset of cells
known as intrinsically photosensitive ganglion retinal cells (ipGRCs) (Berson, Dunn & Takao,
2002). These ipGRCs compose approximately 1-2% of the mammalian retina and differ
markedly in both function and axonal projections (Hattar, Liao, Takao, Berson & Yau, 2002).
Experiments with non-human ipGRCs reveals these cells exhibit little adaption to endured
stimuli and fire at a relatively constant rate regardless of the strength of the light stimuli (Berson
et al, 2002). The sleeping human’s brain is thus unintentionally affected by dim ambient lighting
with little evidence of neuronal adaption to prolonged stimuli. The ipGRCs involved in this
pathway are also unique in their axonal projections. A study which traced the projections of
ipGRCs in mice found non-visual light information was directly conveyed to numerous areas of
the brain involved in sleep and wakefulness (Hattar, Kumar, Park, Tong, Tung, Yau & Berson,
2006). Included within these areas were the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the hypothalamus (SCN).
The SCN has been dubbed the central clock and linked to numerous functions including
regulation of vigilance and somnolence (Ralph, Foster, Davis & Menaker, 1990). Although these
studies were primarily based on non-human mammals a ground breaking biological study
DO NIGHTLIGHTS CAUSE COGNITIVE DETRIMENTS? 4
demonstrated that humans can indeed be affected by non-visual light information. Researchers
presented light stimuli to two subjects that were legally blind as a result of degenerative retinal
disease. The results showed that various physiological indicators of wakefulness could be shifted
temporally in two completely blind subjects with light stimuli alone (Zaidi, Hull, Peirson, Wulff,
Aeschbach, Gooley, . . . Lockley, 2007). Overall, this pathway suggests that dim ambient lighting
can pass through closed eyelids of a sleeping human to unique cells within the eyes and act upon
Although there is an increasing level of research into this physiological pathway the
majority of the present material has been neuroanatomical in nature. The current study aimed to
examine the possible effects of light on this pathway from a behavioural standpoint. Given the
established links between poor sleep habits and impaired functioning we asked whether sleeping
with a nightlight can cause cognitive detriments. We pre-tested a group of young adults on a
small sub-set of cognitive abilities including memory, visual and numerical logic and simple
mathematics. After randomly assigning the participants to sleep either in the dark or with a
nightlight we then retested the same cognitive abilities and measured the differences.
DO NIGHTLIGHTS CAUSE COGNITIVE DETRIMENTS? 5
Method
Participants
Research participants were 15 undergrad students selected from a 3rd year research
methods course in developmental psychology (4 males, 11 females, Mage = 22.33 years, age
range: 20-27 years). The adult group began with 17 participants and suffered 2 study dropouts.
The two study dropouts completed the pre-test but did not appear for subsequent re-testing.
Design
In this experiment participants received pre and post experimental testing to examine the
possible effects of sleeping with a nightlight. We utilized a within-subjects design to reduce the
either in the dark or with a nightlight we tested and retested a small subset of cognitive abilities.
Our effect of interest was the differences between test and retest for both age conditions. Each
study participant was tracked with a confidential ID number. We asked all participants to refrain
from consuming any alcoholic or caffeinated beverages for two days prior to, as well as during,
the study. For the purposes of this study a nightlight was defined as providing minor ambient
lighting. Participants assigned to the nightlight category were instructed to utilize any of the
following: a child nightlight plugged into a bedroom wall outlet, an adjacent bathroom/closet
light left on with the door left slightly ajar or a lamp placed into a closet with the door left
slightly ajar. The cognitive abilities we were able to examine were bound by the limitations of
the current study. We selected only cognitive domains that could be tested with pencil and paper
methods during a limited time frame. Participants were assessed in the cognitive domains of
Procedure
Study participants were tested together within a classroom at UW. Participants were
seated, handed a questionnaire sheet and instructed not to turn it over. Pre and post-experiment
condition testing was administered with a PowerPoint presentation and lasted approximately 10
minutes. Participants were issued a sealed envelope at the end of their pre-testing session.
Enclosed was the participant’s random assignment to sleep either in the dark or with a nightlight.
In the latter case, contained within the envelope were additional instructions explaining the
possible methods to facilitate a nightlight. The adult participants were tested with the Complete
the pattern test, Interpret the Graph test, and a test of free word recall. See Table 1 for an in-depth
explanation of each test and the process with which it was administered.
Table 1
Cognitive Tests Utilized
Cognitive Ability Test Description Process Answer Schema
Visual Logic Complete pattern • adults presented with four images • pre and post experiment
• must select which image, of five possible, testing each had three
best completes the pattern unique trials
• see Appendix - Figure 1 for example • participant had to correctly
indicate which of five
possible images best
completed pattern
Numerical Logic Interpret graph • participants were shown a graph with an • participants were asked
accompanying short explanation three separate question for
• pre-experiment was Burger King’s both pre and post
Journey to work (see Appendix - Figure experiment testing
2) • answers were graded in
• post-experiment was 100m sprint times against a pre-determined
for cartoon characters (see Appendix - marking scheme
Figure 3)
Short-term Free word recall • participants were shown a list of 20 • test paper adults utilized
Memory random words was designed to facilitate
• after a finite viewing time adults were surprise 2nd test
asked to recall as many words as possible • number of recalled words
• 2nd surprise test was administered 4-5 min was compared to both pre
later asking adults to again recall as many and post experiment testing
words from memory for both initial recall and
surprise recall
DO NIGHTLIGHTS CAUSE COGNITIVE DETRIMENTS? 7
Results
We utilized a pre-determined answer key to calculate each participant’s pre and post test
percentile scores. These scores were then combined based on age group and experimental
category assignment. We then calculated the percentile pre and post experiment means for the
three cognitive domains we assessed for both age conditions. Finally we calculated the
percentage point differences between group pre-experiment and post-experiment mean scores. As
can be seen in Table 2 participants that slept with a nightlight performed poorer on retests of
Table 2
Cognitive Performance Scores
Child Adult
Dark Condition
Nightlight Condition
Discussion
Our study showed that sleeping with a nightlight can cause detriments in certain domains
of cognitive ability in young adults. Participants who sleep with a nightlight perform worse on
retests of numerical logic and memory. Participants in the nightlight condition did not perform
poorer on measures of visual reasoning. As research into the behavioural affects of light on sleep
and the brain is limited we are restricted in positing possible explanations for this.
One might argue that the cognitive detriments observed in the nightlight condition may
have been confounded by the participant sleeping in an unusual, and potentially uncomfortable,
environment. We do agree that sleep onset may be affected negatively by the addition of a
nightlight and thus it may take longer for a participant to fall asleep than normal. To counteract
this in the future we would extend the length of the study to include nights for participants to
become acclimatized to the nightlight. We feel that other than sleep onset the addition of the
nightlight had no other confounding affects. The physiological pathway suggested relies on
consciously attending to stimuli while sleeping. We can conclude the cognitive detriments
observed in the nightlight condition were as a result of the participant being unconsciously
When considering future research the current experiment may have been limited by the
operational bounds of this study. The range of outcomes we were able to examine post
experiment were confined to variables that could be measured with paper and pencil tests
administered in a relatively short timeframe. In future studies we would measure reaction times
to simple motor tasks as well as behavioural outcomes. As well we would support our hypothesis
DO NIGHTLIGHTS CAUSE COGNITIVE DETRIMENTS? 9
with various physiological indicators. Research into a related field examining the effects of light
on circadian rhythm in humans has used physiological measures such as core-body temperature
and analysis of blood for melatonin content (Zeitzer, Dijk, Kronauer, Brown, Czeisler, 2000).
As the human race is pressured to accomplish more with a reducing and aging population
some will inevitably investigate whether we can spend more time awake. We are just beginning
to understand why we spend such a significant portion of our time asleep and what is occurring
while we sleep. Future research will hopefully provide further insight into not only what amount
of sleep the human brain requires but also what constitutes the most effective sleep habits.
DO NIGHTLIGHTS CAUSE COGNITIVE DETRIMENTS? 10
References
Berson, D., Dunn, F. & Takao, M., (2002). Phototransduction by retinal ganglion cells that set the
circadian clock. Science, 295, 1070-1073. doi:10.1126/science.1067262
Cote, K., Milner, C., Smith, B., Aubin, A., Greason, T., Cuthbert, B., . . . Duffus, S. (2009). CNS
arousal and neurobehavioural performance in a short-term sleep restriction paradigm.
Journal of Sleep Research, 18, 291-303. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.0073.x
Hattar, S., Liao, H., Takao, M., Berson, D., Yau, K. (2002) Melanopsin-containing retinal
ganglion cells: architecture, projections, and intrinsic photosensitivity. Science, 295,
1065-1070 doi:10.1126/science.1069609
Hattar, S., Kumar, M., Park, A., Tong, P., Tung, J., Yau, K. & Berson, D. (2006) Central
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Zaidi, F., Hull, J., Peirson, S., Wulff, K., Aeschbach, D., Gooley, J., . . . Lockley, S. (2007) Short
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DO NIGHTLIGHTS CAUSE COGNITIVE DETRIMENTS? 11
Appendix
Figure 1
Example of adult visual logic question
Figure 2
Burger King’s journey to work
Figure 3
100m sprint times for the school year