Sleep

The brain’s drive to enter REM sleep follows the same fundamental pattern in species with vastly different sleep architectures, a new cross-species computational analysis shows. Lead: A team of mathematicians and neuroscientists has developed a data-driven measure of REM sleep propensity and used it to show that the dynamics of REM sleep entry are remarkably […]

The brain has its own waste disposal system, and it works mostly while you sleep. A new study published in Neuroradiology suggests that when chronic insomnia disrupts this system, a key brain structure called the choroid plexus becomes enlarged, and the changes track with measurable cognitive decline. The findings offer some of the clearest structural […]

A 28 day randomized controlled trial published today in Clocks & Sleep reports that a sustained-release formulation of melatonin (2 mg) significantly improved sleep efficiency, total sleep time, and subjective sleep quality in healthy adults who described their sleep as poor. The multicenter study, which enrolled 59 participants aged 30 to 60, found effects large […]

A large new study analyzing nearly 200,000 matched patient pairs has delivered a counterintuitive finding that may uproot common assumptions about the safety of melatonin: adults over 50 prescribed melatonin went on to develop dementia and Parkinson’s disease at significantly higher rates than those prescribed benzodiazepines (BZDs) or zolpidem. Published June 24 in Scientific Reports […]

Explainable deep learning applied to cranial X-rays has identified the forehead and frontal sinus as the single most predictive craniofacial region for obstructive sleep apnea — a finding that challenges decades of clinical teaching. Traditional cephalometric analysis has focused on lower-face structures such as the hyoid bone, mandibular plane, and retroglossal airway. The new results […]

Sleep and wakefulness feel like two distinct worlds, but the brain must navigate between them seamlessly, hundreds of times a day. Exactly how the nervous system orchestrates the transition from sleep to wake has remained elusive. A new study from the Vecsey lab at Skidmore College, published in the journal Sleep, reports the discovery of […]

People whose sleep is more fragmented — waking up frequently throughout the night, as measured by wrist-worn actigraphy — show higher levels of amyloid beta plaque density in their brains at autopsy, according to a new study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia. The finding offers some of the strongest evidence yet that objectively measured sleep […]

CPAP provides superior reductions in LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and nighttime diastolic blood pressure dipping compared with mandibular advancement devices (MADs), according to a new systematic review and meta-analysis. The findings suggest that continuous positive airway pressure should be the preferred first-line therapy for patients with obstructive sleep apnea who have elevated cardiometabolic risk. Both […]

A new exchange in the letters section of JAMA highlights both alarming trends in adolescent sleep and important methodological considerations for interpreting Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data. In March 2026, researchers Tanner Bommersbach, Mark Olfson, and Taeho Greg Rhee published a Research Letter in JAMA examining sleep duration trends among U.S. high school students […]

A smartphone app that provides personalized circadian rhythm feedback based on passively collected sensor data reduced the rate of mood episode recurrence by approximately two-thirds in patients with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, according to a multicenter double-blind randomized trial published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The study provides the strongest evidence to […]