Washington, Jun 4 (IANS): A recent study has shown that dimming the brightness of lit devices like smartphones and tablets could facilitate a good night's sleep.

The study by research group Mayo Clinic suggests that dimming the smartphone or tablet brightness and holding the device at least 14 inches from the face while using it can reduce its potential to interfere with melatonin and impede sleep, reports Science Daily.

Melatonin is a hormone that helps control the natural sleep-wake cycle.

The findings are part of several other studies by Mayo Clinic, which are being presented at SLEEP 2013, the annual meeting of Associated Professional Sleep Societies, underway in Baltimore.

"Earlier, people would go to bed and read a book. Well, now much more commonly people go to bed and they have their tablet on which they read a book or they read a newspaper or they're looking at material," said study co-author Lois Krahn, a psychiatrist and sleep expert at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

"The problem is that it is a lit device, and how problematic is the light source from the mobile device," the researcher adds.