sleep
Human hibernation? Brain ‘snooze button’ could help astronauts survive long-term space travel
The mechanisms that control torpor and other hypothermic states—in which body temperatures drop below 37 degrees Celsius—are largely unknown. Two ...
Understanding brain states: How your mind functions when tired, versus wired on caffeine
Ever wonder what happens in your brain to make the switch between down-and-out tired, and borderline over-caffeinated? As it turns ...
While you sleep, your brain decides which memories to keep, and which ones go to ‘the garbage bin’
We don’t remember every detail of our lives: Our brains decide which events are important for long-term storage and which ...
If naps don’t work for you, it could be genetics
Naturally, I’ve always been a little jealous of the people who take naps and wake up feeling like a million ...
Autistic children often have trouble sleeping. Melatonin may help, study says
Melatonin is safe for long-term use in autistic children who have difficulty sleeping, according to a new study. The study ...
Trouble sleeping? Your children may experience the same problems, study suggests
Researchers have long known that severe sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, are hereditary. But what about common sleep problems, ...
Manipulating our internal clocks could lead to treatments for mood disorders, obesity—and even aging
Medicines and other small molecules may play a role in fixing rhythms gone awry ...
Can you hack your sleep cycle for a better night’s rest?
Sleep has become the latest frontier in the life-hackers’ battle for self-improvement. But how easy is to to rewire how you ...
Sleep disturbances may make you susceptible to anxiety disorders
Studies in healthy human volunteers have shown how a sleepless night can increase anxiety levels by 30%. In some participants ...
Deep sleep may be critical to flushing out your brain’s ‘toxic waste’
Why sleep has restorative—or damaging—effects on cognition and brain health has been an enduring mystery in biology. Researchers think cerebrospinal ...
Could a pill make you need less sleep? This genetics research suggests it could happen
We all wish we could get by on less sleep, but one father and son actually can—without suffering any health ...
Why is it so hard to think straight when you’re tired? Here’s what’s going on in your brain
Most of us could use more sleep. We feel it in our urge for an extra cup of coffee and ...
Battling insomnia with a host of high-tech hacks. Do they work?
In the US alone, [there’s] 82 million people who struggle with sleep. Given those figures, it’s no wonder there are ...
‘Short sleepers’: People with this genetic mutation need less sleep than the rest of us
[T]hanks to a mother and daughter who share a rare genetic mutation—and who routinely need just six hours of sleep ...
Alzheimer’s disease and drowsiness: Link could help us determine where the disease first attacks the brain
Alzheimer’s disease destroys command centers in the brain that keep people awake. That finding could explain why the disease often ...
Sleep easy: Late-night surfing on your smartphone unlikely to damage your internal clock
People who only occasionally fall down an internet rabbit hole on their smartphones late at night might be able to ...
Sleep may have originated underwater 450 million years ago
No one should have to sleep with the fishes, but new research on zebrafish suggests that we sleep like them. ...
Night owls may have a greater risk of breast cancer, study says. But altering sleep habits is unlikely to change that.
Sleep traits could be a risk factor for breast cancer, new research suggests. Women who said they preferred to get ...
Microsleep: What happens to our brains when we’re both awake and asleep?
During microsleep, parts of the brain go offline for a few seconds while the rest of the brain stays awake ...
Tired of being a night owl? You may be able to trick your body into changing its ways
If you envy people who wake up with the Sun, but you can’t seem to get to bed until well ...
Dream quest: Why you can’t remember your dreams—and how you can change that
For many of us, dreams are an almost intangible presence. If we’re lucky, we can only remember the most fleeting ...
Gene mutation could explain why children with autism have trouble falling asleep
Up to 80 percent of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience sleep problems. The source of these problems has ...
Why loss of sleep is ‘having a catastrophic impact on our health’
According to neuroscientist Matthew Walker, I'm doing serious damage to my health—and life—by not sleeping enough. "The decimation of sleep ...
Podcast: How a bad night’s sleep can damage your DNA
On this episode of Talking Biotech, University of Florida researchers Kevin Folta and Brady Holmer tackle two pressing questions in ...
Sleep deprived brains might be more susceptible to Alzheimer’s
A sleep-deprived brain is awash in excess amounts of not one but two proteins whose bad behavior is implicated in ...
Why do so many of us dream about flying, falling or being chased?
Most of us experience these so-called "typical dreams" during our lifetime. Around three-quarters of people dream of falling, for instance, and that ...
Your genes may affect how much you exercise and sleep
Time spent sitting, sleeping and moving is determined in part by our genes, University of Oxford researchers have shown. In ...
Can we control our dreams through gene therapy?
What drives our dreams? For most of human history, people thought dreams were supernatural--messages from the gods or visions of ...
