How Full Moon "affects" sleep

[mediumaevum]

Many people claim that the Full Moon is causing sleep deprivation.

Would it be wrong to assume that it is not the Full Moon itself that causes sleep deprivation, but rather that the Inner Clock of your brain is
synchronized with the lunar phases?

This would have been an advantage from billions of years ago, when our ancestors were small cells, in water, the light from the full moon would cause the cells
to better replicate or give other advantages, and so those who had a an "inner clock" synchronized maybe 10 % of the time with the Full Moon,
would be granted a better chance of survival than those who didn't, or only had it synchronized 5 %.

With evolution spanning from billions of years, this mechanism would be subject to full synchronization with the Full Moon, in some animals.

Hence there need not be any direct connection between Full Moon and sleep deprivation, it just happens to be our inner clock that happens to run the same cycle as the lunar phases, refined through natural selection.

[Plu]

Could be, but without evidence it's just a random hypothesis. Just like the one that it's the extra light from the full moon that's causing people to lose sleep.

Although I'm not even sure if there's any kind of connection between the full moon and losing sleep? Or just claims of it? :)

[mediumaevum]

Could be, but without evidence it's just a random hypothesis. Just like the one that it's the extra light from the full moon that's causing people to lose sleep.

Although I'm not even sure if there's any kind of connection between the full moon and losing sleep? Or just claims of it? :)

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/ret ... 2213007549

To exclude confounders such as increased light at night or the potential bias in perception regarding a lunar influence on sleep, we retrospectively analyzed sleep structure, electroencephalographic activity during non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, and secretion of the hormones melatonin and cortisol found under stringently controlled laboratory conditions in a cross-sectional setting. At no point during and after the study were volunteers or investigators aware of the a posteriori analysis relative to lunar phase. We found that around full moon, electroencephalogram (EEG) delta activity during NREM sleep, an indicator of deep sleep, decreased by 30%, time to fall asleep increased by 5 min, and EEG-assessed total sleep duration was reduced by 20 min.

[Plu]

According the article...

Several extensive literature reviews and meta-analyses have found no correlation between the lunar cycle and human biology or behavior.

One study with strong experimental controls indicates a possible connection between sleep quality and lunar phases, but there has been no independent confirmation of these results to date.

Without confirmation and more studies, I guess we'll never know :)

[Jason78]

Many people claim that the Full Moon is causing sleep deprivation.

Who is claiming this?  [Citation Needed]

[mediumaevum]

Many people claim that the Full Moon is causing sleep deprivation.

Who is claiming this?  [Citation Needed]

http://skepdic.com/fullmoon.html

[SGOS]

I think it has something to do with werewolves.

[St Giordano Bruno]

Keeping my bedroom blinds wide open would have some on me. I like the sleep in total darkness.

[Feral Atheist]

Many people claim that the Full Moon is causing sleep deprivation.

Like the belief in god(s), it is all in their head.

Or they are very sensitive to light in the bedroom and need better drapes or shades on their bedroom windows.

[aitm]

lets see, quick math...er....forget that....um..okay, anecdotal,, I have never woke up by the light of a silvery moon for no apparent reason. Pretty damn sure of it.