Moon Phases and Sleep

Folk wisdom says people sleep worse around the full moon. Surprisingly, the research partially supports it — though the mechanism is almost certainly ambient light, not gravity or mysticism.

The Basel study

Cajochen et al. (2013) found that on full-moon nights, participants in a controlled sleep lab took longer to fall asleep, slept 20 minutes less, and had 30% less deep sleep — even with no windows.

Replication and skepticism

Later, larger studies have produced mixed results. The honest summary is: a small effect probably exists, ambient light is the likely mediator, and the practical takeaway is to keep your room dark.

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