S3E9 – End of Season Christmas Q&A

We've gathered the NaPS lab to answer all your fascinating questions on all things sleep! A perfect bitesize episode to get stuck into the marvellous world of sleep. 

1. How does sleep deprivation affect mental health? - Answered by Martha Wawrzuta

• Bunney, B. G. , Bunney, W. E. (2013). Mechanisms of Rapid Antidepressant Effects of Sleep Deprivation Therapy: Clock Genes and Circadian Rhythms. Biological Psychiatry
• Fang, H., Tu, S., Sheng, J., Shao, A. (2018). Depression in sleep disturbance: A review on a bidirectional relationship, mechanisms and treatment. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine

2. What is narcolepsy? - Answered by Kyrillos Meshreky

• Leschziner G., Narcolepsy: a clinical review, Practical Neurology 2014;14:323-331

3. Does the full moon affect sleep? - Answered by Al Saqib Majumder

• Casiraghi, L. et al. (2021). Moonstruck sleep: Synchronization of human sleep with the moon cycle under field conditions. 
• Chaput, J. P. et al. (2016). Are Children Like Werewolves? Full Moon and Its Association with Sleep and Activity Behaviors in an International Sample of Children. Sleep Medicine

4. How does a smart watch track sleep? - Answered by Yan Wang

5. What is orthosomnia? - Answered by Sophie Smith 

• Baron, K.G., et al. (2017) Orthosomnia: Are some patients taking the quantified self too far? J Clin Sleep Med

6. What is sleep regression and how long does it last? - Answered by Mo Abdellahi

• Weinraub, M. et al. (2012). Patterns of developmental change in infants' nighttime sleep awakenings from 6 through 36 months of age. Developmental Psychology
• Bruni O. et al. (2014) Longitudinal study of sleep behavior in normal infants during the first year of life. J Clin Sleep Med

7. Does Magnesium Citrate help you sleep? - Answered by Dulni Peramunugamage

• Magnesium for sleep, Sleep Foundation, 2025

8. Does dark chocolate help you sleep? - Answered by Martha Nguyen 

• Abdoli, E. et al. (2024). A clinical trial of the effects of cocoa rich chocolate on depression and sleep quality in menopausal women. Scientific reports,
• Garbarino, S., Garbarino, E., & Lanteri, P. (2022). Circadian Rhythm, Mood, and Temporal Patterns of Eating Chocolate: A Scoping Review of Physiology, Findings, and Future Directions. Nutrients

Music by Sergio Prosvirini from Pixabay

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