Sleep

​It's already commonly thought that a warm bath before going to bed helps improve your sleep. A new meta-study has apparently confirmed this to be the case, however, and has even come up with exact figures regarding the best times and temperatures.

An intriguing new study is offering insights into the origins of sleep, for the first time discovering zebrafish brains shift through several brain states while sleeping, which researchers suggest could be analogous to human slow-wave, and REM sleep.

New research has found a strong association between irregular sleep patterns and an increased risk of metabolic disorders such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes. The study suggests there is a possible causal connection between inconsistent sleep schedules and metabolic dysfunction.

URGOnight is a novel sleep training device designed to improve your ability to get to sleep, and stay asleep​, through the use of neurofeedback and brain training. The system, comprising an EEG headset and accompanying mobile app, is currently crowdfunding on Indiegogo.

A detailed study has offered new insight into how disrupting circadian rhythms can promote tumor growth. The research also suggests that the efficacy of cancer therapies can be improved by more specifically timing the administration of certain drugs to a patient’s particular circadian rhythm.

​People with insomnia sometimes undergo sleep studies, in which they slumber in a clinic while wired to various sensors – perhaps not the best way to replicate their typical sleeping environment. Soon, however, they may simply be able to wear electronic pyjamas, which are currently in development.

New research examining the brain activity of subjects sleeping suggests that instead of the traditional four sleep stages we generally understand the brain moves through, there are 19 identifiable brain patterns transitioned through while sleeping.

The main risk factors for heart disease are lifestyle choices like a bad diet, smoking, lack of exercise – and poor sleep. That last point has gone relatively unstudied, but new research out of Harvard has found the chemical chain reaction that links disrupted sleep and cardiovascular disease.

Revolutions is a series that brings together a hand-picked selection of recent articles canvassing cutting-edge insights into major scientific advances. This rundown brings you up to date with the ground-breaking new discoveries made in the science of sleep.

A team from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University has uncovered a previously unknown function of sleep that may explain why the behavior is so fundamental to all complex organisms with a brain.

A new study reveals a connection between sleep apnea and increased levels of a toxic brain protein commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease, bolstering the growing body of evidence linking sleep problems with the onset of neurodegenerative conditions.

For the first time scientists have demonstrated how the brain washes away toxic proteins during a specific phase of deep sleep. The study builds on a growing body of evidence suggesting chronic sleep disruption could play a role in the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia.