Casiraghi, and 4 co-authors, reported in early 2021 that before the availability of artificial light, moonlight was the only source of light sufficient to stimulate nighttime activity; still, evidence for the modulation of sleep timing by lunar phases is controversial. Here, the authors used wrist actimetry to show a clear synchronization of nocturnal sleep timing with the lunar cycle in participants living in environments that range from a rural setting with and without access to electricity in indigenous
The Toba/Qom communities in Argentina to a highly urbanized postindustrial setting in the United States. The authors' results show that sleep starts later and is shorter on the nights before the full moon when moonlight is available during the hours following dusk. Their data suggest that moonlight likely stimulated nocturnal activity and inhibited sleep in preindustrial communities and that access to artificial light may emulate the ancestral effect of early-night moonlight.
Post-publication reporting: https://bgr.com/2021/01/30/moon-and-sleep-phases-nature/
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