Moonstruck sleep: Synchronization of human sleep with the moon cycle under field conditions

Casiraghi, Leandro P.; Spiousas, Ignacio; Dunster, Gideon P.; McGlothlen, Kaitlyn; Fernández-Duque, Eduardo; Valeggia, Claudia; Iglesia, Horacio O. de la

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abe0465

Cited by 41 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Starting with the early 20th century, numerous scientific studies have shown that the reproductive behavior and sexual maturation of animals as diverse as corals, polychaetes, echinoderms, fishes or turtles are synchronized by the lunar cycle 1, [3][4][5][6][7] . In addition, lunar timing effects have also been documented outside the marine environment 8,9 , and recently uncovered correlations of human sleep and menstrual cycle properties with moon phases have re-initiated the discussion of an impact of the moon even on human biology 10,11 . As recently documented for corals, desynchronization of these reproductively critical rhythms by anthropogenic impacts poses a threat to species survival 12 .…”

Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cryptochrome adopts distinct moon- and sunlight states and functions as sun- versus moonlight interpreter in monthly oscillator entrainment

Poehn

Krishnan

Zurl

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Measuring time by the moon's monthly cycles is a wide-spread phenomenon and crucial for successful reproduction in countless marine organisms. In several species, such as the mass-spawning bristle worm Platynereis dumerilii, an endogenous monthly oscillator synchronizes reproduction to specific days. Classical work showed that this oscillator is set by full moon. But how do organisms recognize this specific moon phase? We uncover L-Cry's involvement: photoreduction and recovery kinetics of its co-factor FAD differ strongly when purified L-Cry is exposed to naturalistic moonlight, naturalistic sunlight, or their different successions. L-Cry's sun- versus moonlight states correlate with distinct sub-cellular localizations, indicating differential signalling. These properties enable a discrimination between sun- and moonlight, as well as moonlight duration as a moon phase indicator. Consistently, l-cry mutants re-entrain their circalunar phase less well than wild-type to naturalistic moonlight. But under artificially strong nocturnal light, l-cry mutants re-entrain faster than wildtype, suggesting that L-Cry at least partly blocks "wrong" light from impacting on this oscillator. Our work provides a new level of functional understanding of moon-regulated biological processes.

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Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cryptochrome adopts distinct moon- and sunlight states and functions as sun- versus moonlight interpreter in monthly oscillator entrainment

Poehn

Krishnan

Zurl

et al. 2021

Preprint

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show abstract

“…Reasons for this intra-individual variability should be investigated. Longer-term intra- and inter-individual variability is affected by photoperiod in humans and other animals, with longer sleep episodes across the month (with nighttime light from the moon) ( Casiraghi et al, 2021 ) and during seasons with longer durations of darkness [e.g., ( Wehr, 1991 ; van Hasselt et al, 2020 )].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can People Sleep Too Much? Effects of Extended Sleep Opportunity on Sleep Duration and Timing

et al. 2021

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Many people are concerned about whether they are getting “enough” sleep, and if they can “sleep too much.” These concerns can be approached scientifically using experiments probing long-term (i.e., multi-night) sleep homeostatic processes, since homeostatic processes move the system toward its physiological setpoint (i.e., between “not enough” and “too much”). We analyzed sleep data from two human studies with sleep opportunities much longer than people usually stay in bed (i.e., conditions in which sleep homeostatic responses could be documented): sleep opportunities were 14–16 h per day for 3–28 days. Across the nights of the extended sleep opportunities, total sleep duration, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep duration and non-REM sleep durations decreased and sleep latency increased. Multiple nights were required to reach approximately steady-state values. These results suggest a multi-day homeostatic sleep process responding to self-selected insufficient sleep duration prior to the study. Once steady state-values were reached, there were large night-to-night variations in total sleep time and other sleep metrics. Our results therefore answer these concerns about sleep amount and are important for understanding the basic physiology of sleep and for two sleep-related topics: (i) the inter-individual and intra-individual variability are relevant to understanding “normal” sleep patterns and for people with insomnia and (ii) the multiple nights of sleep required for recovery from insufficient sleep from self-selected sleep loss is important for public health and other efforts for reducing the adverse effects of sleep loss on multiple areas of physiology.

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“…Infradian metaplasticity is a form of iterative metaplasticity repeating on a longer-than-daily timescale (Figure 1, lower panel). Circalunar (approximately one lunar cycle) rhythms, including moon-phase-dependent fluctuations in sleep quality (Casiraghi et al, 2021) and the human ovulatory cycle (Helfrich-Förster et al, 2021), may contribute to infradian metaplasticity. We have already discussed an example of how sleep may directly influence neuroplastic capacity (Noya et al, 2019).…”

Section: Iterative Metaplasticity On a Longer-than-daily Timescale: I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Iterative Metaplasticity Across Timescales: How Circadian, Ultradian, and Infradian Rhythms Modulate Memory Mechanisms

Hartsock

Strnad²,

Spencer

2021

J Biol Rhythms

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Work in recent years has provided strong evidence for the modulation of memory function and neuroplasticity mechanisms across circadian (daily), ultradian (shorter-than-daily), and infradian (longer-than-daily) timescales. Despite rapid progress, however, the field has yet to adopt a general framework to describe the overarching role of biological rhythms in memory. To this end, Iyer and colleagues introduced the term iterative metaplasticity, which they define as the “gating of receptivity to subsequent signals that repeats on a cyclic timebase.” The central concept is that the cyclic regulation of molecules involved in neuroplasticity may produce cycles in neuroplastic capacity—that is, the ability of neural cells to undergo activity-dependent change. Although Iyer and colleagues focus on the circadian timescale, we think their framework may be useful for understanding how biological rhythms influence memory more broadly. In this review, we provide examples and terminology to explain how the idea of iterative metaplasticity can be readily applied across circadian, ultradian, and infradian timescales. We suggest that iterative metaplasticity may not only support the temporal niching of neuroplasticity processes but also serve an essential role in the maintenance of memory function.

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Moonstruck sleep: Synchronization of human sleep with the moon cycle under field conditions

Cited by 41 publications

References 36 publications

A Cryptochrome adopts distinct moon- and sunlight states and functions as sun- versus moonlight interpreter in monthly oscillator entrainment

A Cryptochrome adopts distinct moon- and sunlight states and functions as sun- versus moonlight interpreter in monthly oscillator entrainment

Can People Sleep Too Much? Effects of Extended Sleep Opportunity on Sleep Duration and Timing

Iterative Metaplasticity Across Timescales: How Circadian, Ultradian, and Infradian Rhythms Modulate Memory Mechanisms

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