Sleep News and Research

Latest Sleep News and Research

Wake-promoting drug improves alertness in early morning shift workers

Many more people work very early morning shifts than overnight ones, and a large proportion struggle with excessive sleepiness from shift work disorder, leading to problems with focus, performance and safety.

29 Jan 2026

Eating melatonin-rich foods is linked to lower obesity and depression rates

This cross-sectional analysis of 8,320 Brazilian adults quantified melatonin intake from habitual diets and examined associations with multiple chronic health outcomes. Higher dietary melatonin intake was inversely associated with obesity and depression in a non-linear pattern, with no significant associations observed for other conditions.

28 Jan 2026

Newly discovered compound can advance the body's internal clock

A Japanese research team has discovered a new compound that can advance the body's internal clock—offering hope for faster recovery from jet lag and better adaptation to night-shift work.

28 Jan 2026

Exploring the link between devices and adolescent sleep

New research in Brain & Behavior found a link between screen time and adolescents' sleep quality and beliefs about healthy lifestyles.

28 Jan 2026

'Evening people' more likely to have poor cardiovascular health

Middle-aged and older adults who were more active in the evenings had poorer cardiovascular health compared to their peers who were more active during the day.

28 Jan 2026

Study isolates mania-specific genetic architecture in bipolar disorder

Researchers at King's College London and the University of Florence have, for the first time, identified the specific genetic blueprint of mania, the defining feature of bipolar disorder.

27 Jan 2026

Sleeping without pillows may help reduce nighttime eye pressure in glaucoma

Sleeping without pillows may help lower high internal eye pressure, build-up of which causes optic nerve damage and glaucoma-the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide–in people with the condition, suggests preliminary research, published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

27 Jan 2026

How modern lifestyles reprogram the gut microbiome and shape disease risk

Modern lifestyle factors such as circadian disruption, sleep deprivation, stress, and exercise reshape the gut bacteriome and its metabolic outputs. These microbiome changes are linked to immune, metabolic, and cancer-related pathways, largely through evidence from animal models and observational human studies.

27 Jan 2026

Menopause associated with reduced brain volume and increased anxiety symptoms

Menopause is linked to reductions in grey matter volume in key brain regions as well as increased levels of anxiety and depression and difficulties with sleep, according to new research from the University of Cambridge.

27 Jan 2026

Midlife insulin levels influence timing and duration of menopausal vasomotor symptoms

A woman's insulin levels in midlife are linked to the timing and duration of menopausal hot flashes, night sweats and cold sweats, according to new research from the University of Victoria (UVic).

27 Jan 2026

New role for GLP-1 drugs: Improving survival in people with severe psychiatric disorders

This editorial argues that GLP-1 receptor agonists could substantially improve healthspan and reduce premature mortality in people with serious mental illnesses by targeting cardiometabolic risk rather than psychiatric symptoms alone. It highlights emerging evidence, safety considerations, and equity challenges that position GLP-1 RAs as a promising public health strategy for this high-risk population.

25 Jan 2026

Camera-based technology measures cardiopulmonary coupling without physical sensors

From a physiological perspective, heartbeats and breathing do not operate independently in the human body. Cardiac rhythm varies with the respiratory cycle, and the close interaction between the two is known as cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC).

23 Jan 2026

Nearly half of adults now live with heart disease as obesity and diabetes surge

The 2026 American Heart Association Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics report shows that nearly half of adults are living with cardiovascular disease, with cardiometabolic risk factors projected to rise substantially by 2050. Despite progress in smoking reduction and cholesterol control, worsening obesity, diabetes, hypertension, sleep health, and persistent inequities threaten future cardiovascular health.

22 Jan 2026

Menopausal hormone therapy linked to greater weight loss with tirzepatide

A new study led by Mayo Clinic found that postmenopausal women receiving menopausal hormone therapy lost 35% more weight while taking tirzepatide, a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for the treatment of overweight and obesity.

22 Jan 2026

Short naps refresh the brain for better learning

Even a short afternoon nap can help the brain recover and improve its ability to learn. In a study published on January 22, 2026, in the journal NeuroImage, researchers at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and University of Geneva, show that even a nap is enough to reorganize connections between nerve cells so that new information can be stored more effectively.

22 Jan 2026

Lifelong health: The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 enters a new era of aging research

One of the world’s most extensive birth cohorts is now entering later adulthood. At the University of Oulu in Finland, the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966) is launching a major new follow-up combining decades of biological, social, and environmental data with modern digital health tools to examine how lifelong exposures and the genome shape health and aging.

22 Jan 2026

ŌURA and NUS launch joint lab to advance personalized preventive health

ŌURA, maker of the most scientifically validated smart ring, Oura Ring, and the Centre for Sleep and Cognition (CSC) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), today announced the opening of the Oura–NUS Joint Lab, a new research entity dedicated to advancing personalized preventive health.

21 Jan 2026

The neuroscience of motivation-driven memory retention

Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), and Duke University have proposed a neuroscience framework explaining how different types of motivation fundamentally reshape what and how the brain remembers.

21 Jan 2026

Tracing the decline in American heart disease mortality

Following a five-year upward trend likely impacted by the COVID pandemic, the number of heart disease and stroke deaths has declined, yet, heart disease and stroke still kill more people in the U.S. each year than any other cause, according to data reported in the 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of U.S. and Global Data From the American Heart Association.

21 Jan 2026

Mouse study reveals social hierarchy influences sleep quality during isolation

Researchers tested what factors improve or worsen the quality of sleep in mice. A team including researchers from the University of Tokyo placed mice in two environments, one where they could see and sense other mice without physical contact, and one in complete isolation.

21 Jan 2026