TVs, computers, smart phones the black mirrors lurking in our homes and pockets, just waiting to steal our precious sleeping hours away.

It’s tempting to think of technology as the enemy when it comes to getting good sleep.

But despite the large body of research into the negative psychological and physical effects of screen-time before bed, there are ways technology can help us get better sleep, according to biological clock researcher Dr Alexis Webb, previously of the Francis Crick Institute.

One such app, Dr Webb says, is My Circadian Clock, designed by Professor Satchidananda Panda and Dr Emily Manoogian of the Salk Institute in California. Those eligible to use it are asked if their information can be used in a study on biological rhythms, providing researchers with a huge source of data.

Prior to the app’s development, research led by Dr Panda found that high-fat diets didn’t lead to weight gain or diseases in mice when they could only eat during an eight-hour window, compared to mice that could eat the same diet at whatever time they liked.

Their studies also found that mice who switched from a foodie free-for-all to time-restricted eating also reversed obesity even on high-fat, high-fructose, and high-sucrose diets.

With this in mind, the app was created in an attempt to study whether the same patterns could be observed in humans.

Once signed up to the study, users of the app log the timing of everything they consume - from food to coffee, water and medicine along with exercise and sleep.

After two weeks, they can review their habits and decide if they want to set an eating or sleeping goal. Dr Manoogian said while the app does not make personal recommendations, it does provide users with information to help them make decisions about their goals.

“Our bodies have clocks that coordinate the timing of our physiology and behaviour such as eating, sleeping, and being active to make sure everything is in the right place at the right time,” Dr Manoogian said.

“Frequently shifting sleep schedules and erratic eating patterns that don’t allow for a nightly fasting period of 12 hours are overriding cues that disrupt our biological rhythms.

“Eating or drinking, especially alcohol or caffeine, just before going to bed activates the brain and leads to very poor sleep quality. We hope the app will help people gain a better understanding of when they eat and drink and how that affects their sleep and overall health.”

Staying in sync

Another app recommended by Dr Webb is Entrain, developed by researchers at the University of Michigan, to help travelers and shift-workers with disrupted sleep cycles adjust to their environments more quickly.

It uses mathematical models to suggest the optimal times to be exposed to light or dark: helping users understand and work with their body’s circadian rhythms.

From a young age, everyone becomes “entrained”, or adjusted, to a light-dark cycle, although the exact preferred sleeping cycles vary across the population from “early” to “late” sleeping types.

When you travel across time zones or force your body to operate outside those “normal” hours, the disconnect between the external cues, such as the timing of light and dark, and what your cells think should be happening can make you feel unwell and disrupt your sleep.

Dr Webb says using the app could help your body adapt more easily to sleep disruptions.

And users also have the option to share the data with the researchers who designed the app, to help them improve its accuracy.
What about exposure to ‘blue light’ from devices?
More than 15 million Australians own a smartphone — and seem to find them quite irresistible, looking at their device more than 30 times per day on average.
Blue light is useful during the day as it encourages alertness. But it also suppresses the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, which would otherwise be building up as the day or night wears on.

Studies have shown that even the light from an e-reader is enough to not only delay sleep but also reduce alertness the next morning.

“Even though it’s very dim light, we are getting light from our tablets and smartphones when we look at them before we go to bed — and this is predominantly blue light,” Dr Webb said.

But there are ways to reduce your exposure to this blue, if you’re using your smartphone or tablet after dark.

Dr Webb recommends using filters, which use ‘warmer’ orange-red light in the display after sunset based on your phone’s location and time zone, as red light has the least effect on melatonin.

Similar filters are also available for computers.

However, these are relatively new features, and shouldn’t be treated as a magic bullet.

It’s likely that blue light is not the only factor contributing to sleeplessness.

Filtering the light from your screen won’t do anything for the levels of mental stimulation that social media or texting encourage.

So ideally they should be switched off around an hour before sleep, and the bedroom kept as a technology-free haven. Exposure to natural light early and late in the day also helps regulate your body clock, according to Dr Webb.