Night owls, beware! Study finds late night screen-time linked to depression

CINCINNATI - Are you one of those night owls who likes to stay up late watching TV or surfing the Web?

A new Ohio State study suggests that too much late-night screen time could get you down.

The study funded partly by the Department of Defense exposed hamsters to dim light at night, and found changes in behavior and the brain that were strikingly similar to depression in humans.

Researchers say that the rise in exposure to artificial light at night in the last 50 years had coincided with rising rates of depression, especially among women.

The hamsters who were exposed to an extended period of dim light at night were less active and more interested in drinking sugar water. The researchers also found changes in the hippocampus of the brain, similar to people with depression.