Department of Neuroscience (Sleep Science Lab, BMC), Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Surgery, Umeå University, Sweden.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jan 15;804:150222. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150222. Epub 2021 Sep 9.
Using one-night sleep recordings from 852 subjects all living in Uppsala, Sweden, the present study represents one of the largest polysomnography investigations into the association of the 29.53-day long lunar cycle with sleep among men and women and across a wide age range (22-81 years). Following the day after the new moon until the day of the full moon (also named the waxing period), the moon's illumination increases, and the timing of the meridian of the moon is gradually shifted from noontime toward midnight. In contrast, from the day after the full moon until the day of the new moon (also named the waning period), the moon's illumination decreases, and the timing of the meridian of the moon is gradually shifted from early night hours toward noontime. Thus, we focused on the contrast between the waxing and waning periods. Sleep duration was shorter on nights during the waxing period as compared to waning period (P < 0.001). In addition, a significant interaction effect of participants' sex with the lunar period on sleep was noted (P < 0.05). Men, but not women, exhibited lower sleep efficiency (P < 0.001 and P = 0.748, respectively) and were longer awake after sleep onset (P = 0.010 and P = 0.890, respectively) on nights during the waxing period. All associations were robust to adjustment for confounders (including regular sleep disturbances). Our findings suggest that the effects of the lunar cycle on human sleep are more pronounced among men. Based on the cross-sectional design of the study, no firm conclusions can be drawn on the causality of the relations.
本研究使用了来自瑞典乌普萨拉的 852 名受试者的一夜间睡眠记录，这是对男性和女性在广泛年龄范围内（22-81 岁）的睡眠与 29.53 天长的月球周期之间关联进行的最大规模之一的多导睡眠图研究之一。从新月后的第一天到满月的那一天（也称为满月期），月亮的光照增加，月亮的子午线的时间逐渐从中午向午夜转移。相比之下，从满月后的第一天到新月的那一天（也称为渐亏期），月亮的光照减少，月亮的子午线的时间逐渐从深夜向中午转移。因此，我们专注于满月期和渐亏期之间的对比。与渐亏期相比，满月期的夜晚睡眠时间更短（P<0.001）。此外，还注意到参与者性别与月球周期对睡眠的交互作用具有显著影响（P<0.05）。只有男性，而不是女性，在满月期的夜晚表现出较低的睡眠效率（P<0.001 和 P=0.748），并且入睡后醒来的时间更长（P=0.010 和 P=0.890）。所有关联在调整混杂因素（包括定期睡眠障碍）后仍然稳健。我们的研究结果表明，月球周期对人类睡眠的影响在男性中更为明显。基于该研究的横断面设计，无法对这些关系的因果关系得出确凿的结论。
