Can a Full Moon Cause You to Sleep Less? New Study Answers the Question

Many people believe that the moon can impact human behavior--especially when it comes to sleep patterns. In fact, many report restlessness around the time of the full moon. Now, scientists have taken a closer look at this phenomenon and have found that the lunar phases may have nothing to do with human sleep patterns.

Previous studies had actually found a connection between sleep and the lunar cycle. Yet these studies have shown varying results; in addition, the effects on sleep have rarely been assessed with objective measures, such as a sleep EEG. In some studies, women appeared more affected by the moon phase, while in other studies men appeared to be more affected. That's why scientists decided to take a closer look in order to create a more objective and conclusive study.

"To overcome the obvious limitations of retrospective data analysis, carefully controlled studies specifically designed for the test of lunar cycle effects on sleep in large samples are required for a definitive answer," said Martin Dresler, one of the researchers, in a news release

The researchers analyzed sleep data of about 1,265 volunteers during 2,097 nights. This allowed them to get a broad overview of how lunar cycles might impact sleep. In the end, they found no correlation between the lunar cycle and sleep.

"Investigating this large cohort of test persons and sleep nights, we were unable to replicate previous findings," said Dresler in a news release. "We could not observe a statistical relevant correlation between human sleep and the lunar phases."

In fact, the researchers actually identified several unpublished null findings, including cumulative analyses of more than 20,000 sleep nights. This suggests that the conflicting results might be an example of a publication bias.

The findings reveal that the lunar cycle has nothing to do with sleep patterns. That said, further studies may be needed in order to definitively prove this fact. That said, this research does reveal that currently there's no reason to believe that there's a link between the moon and your sleep.

The findings are published in the journal Current Biology.