Full moon affects human sleep

Tests on Swiss volunteers as they spent nights in a sleep lab showed a link between moon phases and sleep patterns: sleep was more disturbed when there was a full moon. The researchers report how they found a full moon disrupts sleep quality. Lead author Professor Christian Cajochen of the Centre for Chronobiology at the […]

Tests on Swiss volunteers as they spent nights in a sleep lab showed a link between moon phases and sleep patterns: sleep was more disturbed when there was a full moon.

The researchers report how they found a full moon disrupts sleep quality. Lead author Professor Christian Cajochen of the Centre for Chronobiology at the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, and colleagues analyzed data taken from over 30 healthy volunteers of various ages. As the participants slept, their brain activity, eye movements, and hormone levels in different phases of sleep were measured. The analysis showed that the participants did not sleep so well when there was a full moon.