Bad Sleep Around Full Moon Is no Longer a Myth

(University of Basel, July 26, 2013)

Many people complain about poor sleep around full moon. Researchers at the University of Basel report evidence that lunar cycles and human sleep behavior are in fact connected. They analyzed the brain patterns, eye movements and hormone secretions of over 30 volunteers in two age groups while they slept. The volunteers' subjective impression that their sleep had been poorer during full moon was confirmed by the data: Brain activity related to deep sleep dropped by 30 percent during full moon. People also took 5 minutes longer to fall asleep and they overall slept for 20 minutes less.