sleep

Illustration of a pink brain in a silhouette on a background with brainwaves.

Sleep Disruptions and Impaired Muscle Control in Ataxia May Share a Culprit

Shelby Bradford, PhD | Nov 5, 2024 | 4 min read

Dysfunctional neurons in the cerebellum, a brain region that controls motor functions, reduced REM sleep in mice.

Connecting Psilocybin, Mushrooms, and Dreaming

Jef Akst | Sep 23, 2024 | 3 min read

Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, triggers brain activity characteristic of dream states.

A researcher looks at the screen of an imaging equipment. She sees a picture of a Western blot membrane.

The Mysterious Western Blot Message

Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, PhD | Mar 1, 2024 | 2 min read

Elissavet Chartampila meticulously crafted handwritten labels for her lab tools. Little did she know that some labels last forever.

A white brain with clock hands rests in the middle of two scenes of two different times of day, nighttime, indicated by stars on a blue background, is on the left and day, indicated by light blue clouds, on the right.

Sleep Rhythms Prompt Long-term Memories

Shelby Bradford, PhD | Dec 1, 2023 | 2 min read

A bridge between neurons triggers longer, deeper sleep and memory formation in fly larvae.

You Are When You Eat

Iris Kulbatski, PhD | Nov 20, 2023 | 3 min read

Intermittent fasting regulates biological time and improves disrupted sleep in an Alzheimer’s disease model.

Image of the fly brain (grey) highlighting the population of neurons (pink) to which the gut-secreted peptide CCHa1 signals

A Protein-Rich Diet Helps Mice and Flies Sleep More Soundly: Study

Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Mar 24, 2023 | 3 min read

The effect appears to be mediated by a gut-secreted peptide that signals to neurons in the brain that modulate the response to mechanical vibrations.

Cover of When Animals Dream: A colourful illustration of an octopus.<br><br>

Book Excerpt from When Animals Dream

David M. Peña-Guzmán | Aug 25, 2022 | 3 min read

In Chapter 1, “The Science of Animal Dreams,” author David M. Peña-Guzmán relays the history of researchers digging into the mental realities of nonhuman brains.

Opinion: Animal Dreaming Should Give Us Ethical Pause

David M. Peña-Guzmán | Aug 15, 2022 | 4 min read

Research shows that humans aren’t the only animals whose imaginations run wild while they sleep.

Artistic representation of a brain depicted as a clock on a background with one half in dark blue with yellow stars and one half in light blue with clouds.

Which Neurons Go to Sleep First in Humans? fMRI Can Tell

Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Aug 9, 2022 | 3 min read

By linking blood flow patterns to bioelectric signals in the brains of sleeping volunteers, scientists are studying the order in which brain regions fall asleep and wake up.

Artist’s rendition of metastatic cancer cells with yellow nuclei and green cell bodies extending into blue tendrils.

While the Body Rests, Breast Cancer Spreads More Aggressively

Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Jun 23, 2022 | 4 min read

More cancer cells are shed from primary tumors when individuals are asleep than when they’re awake, according to observations in mouse models and a small cohort of breast cancer patients.

Black and white photo of Rechtschaffen looking at the camera

Pioneering Sleep Researcher Allan Rechtschaffen Dies at 93

Lisa Winter | Dec 22, 2021 | 2 min read

Rechtschaffen sought to understand the evolutionary purpose of shut-eye.

DNA Damage Makes Zebrafish Sleepy

Sophie Fessl, PhD | Nov 18, 2021 | 4 min read

Buildup of a DNA-repair protein in brain cells spurs shut-eye in the fish, a study finds, and similar results in mice suggest the mechanism is widespread in animals.

Power of thinking, abstract imagination, world, universe inside your mind, watercolor painting

The Link Between Wandering and Sleeping Minds

Annie Melchor | Oct 1, 2021 | 5 min read

Researchers discover that when the mind wanders or goes blank, some parts of the brain behave as they do during sleep.

J Allan Hobson smiling at camera, circa 2005

Groundbreaking Sleep Researcher J. Allan Hobson Dies at 88

Lisa Winter | Jul 29, 2021 | 2 min read

He famously contradicted Sigmund Freud’s views on the meaning of dreams.

sleep, lucid dreaming, dreaming, dreams, REM, communication, Morse code

Researchers Exchange Messages with Dreamers

Asher Jones | Feb 18, 2021 | 5 min read

Dreamers answered experimenters’ questions or solved simple math problems, showing that complex two-way communication between the dreaming and waking world is possible.