Roller shutters raised or lowered at night? The response of science

The difficulty in sleeping is a problem that concerns more and more Italians: 12 million according to the latest data. A discomfort that ends up affecting the quality of life: Resting well at night, in fact, it is not only used to recover the forces, but helps to start the day with momentum and concentration. And natural light plays an important role in this. Just think of the link between the sunrise and our awakening or the darkness that invites to rest.

Warning yes or no: the study

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And the relationship between light and good sleep is at the center of A study by the Metropolitan University of Osaka, Japan: A group of researchers wanted to understand if some sunlight before the alarm can make the awakening better. So if The shutter is better to lower it or keep it open.

Seventeen volunteers, divided into 3 groups, were involved in the experiment, for which special curtains and automatic systems were used with which to control the lighting of the room. The first group received natural light for 20 minutes before waking up, the second natural light from dawn until the time of awakening and a third group, however, kept the shutters lowered and did not receive any natural light before waking up. The study was conducted the way that the participants themselves tried All 3 conditions, thus reducing the influence of individual differences on the results: In addition, they were all university students between 20 and 30 years old, with fairly regular sleep habits.

Natural light on awakening: 20 minutes are enough

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The discovery was that Those who were exposed to natural light before waking up feel less sleepy than those who had remained in the dark. The exhibition for only 20 minutes before the alarm turned out to be the most effective for a ready awakening. A greater exposure, such as the one starting from dawn, did not give the same results. Indeed, seeing natural light too soon would seem to increase night awakenings, compromising the quality of rest. Because of this, Researchers advise to resort to curtains, dawn simulators or automatic systems capable of regulating the influx of light. For now it is not known more. Other studies will be needed to understand how much light it takes to good sleep. “In the future we hope to better study natural light and how to use it to wake up better”, admits Daisuke Matsushita, who guided the research.

question of light

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The study also highlighted the influence of external lights, confirming that night artificial lights can worsen the quality of sleep and make awakening more difficult. In short, If the clock timetable is fixed, we have an action margin on the surrounding environment. Modular natural light in the bedroom could be the lever in our power to guide the delicate moment of awakening and face the day with momentum.