Sleep

New research suggests that an individual's underlying vulnerability to stress plays a key role in how pre-sleep thoughts can fragment their night's rest, helping to explain why some people are more prone to developing sleep problems.

A study in Japan found a simple way for older adults to improve sleep: taking a hot-tub bath before bed. Published in Sleep Health, the research showed this habit was especially effective during the winter months.

A new study of over 27,000 adults reveals a direct link between poor sleep and accelerated brain aging. Researchers found those with unhealthy sleep habits had brains that appeared structurally older on MRI scans than their chronological age.

A new study reports that dreams featuring supernatural events can influence a person’s daily feelings of closeness to God. Published in Frontiers in Psychology, the research shows this effect can be delayed by several days.

For some, sleep brings a strange awareness of nothing at all. This rare state of "conscious sleep" is now being studied by scientists to help solve the mystery of what it means to be conscious.

To truly understand sleep's role in well-being, scientists are looking directly at the brain. A new study combines detailed sleep data with brain imaging to investigate how individual differences in rest are reflected in our neural wiring and daily lives.

Many adolescents with ADHD struggle with both sleep and homework, creating a nightly challenge for families. Researchers recently investigated the connection between these issues, exploring whether poor sleep directly contributes to the academic difficulties often seen in these teens.

Could poor sleep be accelerating your brain's aging process? New research suggests it might. A study in Neurology found that chronic insomnia is associated with a more rapid decline in cognitive skills, equivalent to an extra 3.5 years of aging.

Scientists in Japan report that memory consolidation during REM sleep may rely on only a handful of adult-born neurons. Their findings point to a highly selective and precisely timed neural process involved in turning fear experiences into stable memories.

Just one night of poor sleep is enough to disrupt your hunger hormones, slow your metabolism, and weaken your brain's impulse control. A sleep scientist explains the rapid biological cascade that pushes you toward weight gain—and how to reverse it.

New research suggests that sleep habits may influence the communities of bacteria that inhabit the mouth. People who reported shorter nightly sleep had fewer types of microbes and different patterns of bacterial abundance compared to those with recommended sleep duration.

Scientists are uncovering how sleep affects brain health. In people with narcolepsy, brain scans reveal slow, rhythmic pulsations during wakefulness, hinting that a hormone missing in this condition may be tied to brain fluid clearance.

Researchers found that veterans whose sleepiness scores worsened over time faced increased mortality risk. Using data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the study suggests that new-onset daytime sleepiness could signal underlying health decline, particularly among older adults.

A new study suggests that personality traits like neuroticism and openness to experience may shape how severely people experience insomnia. But anxiety appears to explain much of the link, pointing to a more complex psychological pathway than previously assumed.

New research from Harvard scientists suggests that sleep helps the brain strengthen newly learned motor skills by boosting spindle activity in the exact regions involved during learning. The greater the increase in this activity, the more participants improved after napping.