In the study, 33 healthy volunteers (half 20-31 years old, half 57-74) slept in a temperature controlled sleep lab shielded from any outside light. The data showed a 30% reduction in the brain activity indicative of deep sleep around a full moon compared to a new moon. It also took participants five minutes longer to fall asleep, and they slept 20 less minutes on average. Strangely enough, researchers originally conducted the study for restless legs syndrome and sleep apnea, but made the connection years after the study was completed. The study offers some of the first convincing evidence that, despite our access to fancy schmancy sleep-cycle clocks and other forms of technology, the lunar cycle still has some power over us. “There is evidence from animal literature that the lunar cycle is a major regulator of reproductive behavior,” says researcher Christian Cajochen, PhD, a chronobiologist at the University of Basel Switzerland, who waited four years to publish the findings due to personal skepticism. “Since we can exclude the effects of light and gravitational forces in our study, our study finds that an endogenous circa-lunar clock may still tick on our brain somewhere, probably without any significant function in our modern life.” In the thousands of years since Galileo first laid eyes on the moon, few long-term sweeping studies have been able to prove (or disprove) moon-related myths, like busier ERs during full moons or its connection with epilepsy. However, it seems the moon is having a moment: another recent study published in Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery found those undergoing heart surgery have a lower death rate if their operation is done when the moon is starting to wane. They also experienced shorter hospital stays after the procedure. For now, why is a hard question for scientists to answer. “Maybe it’s a relic of our past, when human behaviors were more synchronized to external cues,” suspects Dr. Cajochen. We’ll be popping a melatonin on August 21, the next time the moon will be in its full glory. Will you? More From Prevention: Still Slacking On Sleep? Your Office Is Wrecking Your Sleep What You Know About Falling Asleep in Wrong
