Health. Does the full moon impact our sleep?

To determine whether or not the moon has an influence on our sleep, researchers from thenational university of Quilmes in Argentina, from the University of Washington and of Yale University monitored the nights of 98 people belonging to 3 Toba Amerindian communities, in the province of Formosa in Argentina.

The first had no access to electricity, the second had limited access, while the last lived in an urbanized environment.

With or without electricity

All wore activity sensors on their wrists to monitor their sleep periods during several lunar cycles (each lasts approximately 30 days). The researchers’ findings validate the impact of the moon on the length of the participants’ nights.

In fact, everyone went to bed later and had the shortest nights during the 3 to 5 days preceding the full moon. And whether or not they have access to electricity, and therefore to artificial light.

In order to verify that their results were valid in all contexts, the scientists carried out the same follow-ups with students in the Seattle region, in the United States, a large city that never dies.

The same variations in sleep during the days preceding the full moon were observed. Could the moon ultimately have greater power than imagined?

Source : University of Washington, 27 janvier 2021