Sleep medicine
August 1, 2023
David A Kalmbach, Philip Cheng, Anthony N Reffi et al.
15 citations
A proof-of-concept trial of a treatment combining mindfulness with behavioral sleep strategies (PUMAS) for pregnant women with insomnia found large reductions in insomnia, depression, and cognitive arousal. Among 12 participants with insomnia disorder (five also had depression), 83.3% achieved insomnia remission after six telemedicine sessions. All five depressed patients remitted from depression. Nocturnal cognitive arousal, perinatal-focused rumination, and sleep effort all showed large improvements. Patients rated sleep restriction and guided meditations as most helpful and were highly satisfied with the telemedicine format and meditation app.
Sleep medicine
July 1, 2024
Andreas S Lappas, Eleni Glarou, Zoi A Polyzopoulou et al.
13 citations
A network meta-analysis of 99 randomized controlled trials with 10,481 participants examined the effects of various medications on sleep problems in people with post-traumatic stress disorder. Prazosin may be the most effective treatment for insomnia, nightmares, and poor sleep quality. Evidence indicates a lack of efficacy for SSRIs, Mirtazapine, z-drugs, and benzodiazepines, which are commonly prescribed. Risperidone and Quetiapine carry a high risk of causing somnolence without clear therapeutic benefit. Hydroxyzine, Trazodone, Nabilone, Paroxetine, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy may be promising, but more research is needed. Underpowered comparisons and low confidence in estimates limit generalizability.
Sleep medicine
December 1, 2021
Michael Raduga
5 citations
People can intentionally signal from within a lucid dream by moving their chin muscles, even though the body is otherwise paralyzed during REM sleep. In a laboratory study, four out of five volunteers who achieved a lucid dream successfully opened their jaws three times as pre-arranged. These chin movements were detectable via a single electromyography sensor, suggesting that muscle atonia does not block voluntary signals from the submentalis area. This finding points toward a simpler, cheaper, and potentially wearable lucid-dream verification protocol that could accelerate research and enable new applications in psychology, motor training, and human-computer interaction.
Sleep medicine
June 24, 2025
Fan Feng, Hui Guo, Grace A Ding et al.
2 citations
Narcolepsy, a sleep disorder marked by excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations, often reduces social functioning and quality of life. While medications can improve symptoms, they carry side effects like headaches, dizziness, and insomnia. Meditation, a non-pharmacological practice that regulates attention and emotion, may offer a viable alternative. This review introduces meditation's conceptualization and applications, and examines potential mechanisms and existing evidence for its use in reducing narcolepsy symptoms, including excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and overweight.
Sleep medicine
June 1, 2025
George Kapotsis, Paschalis Steiropoulos, Nikoletta Rovina et al.
Therapeutic incubation—a ritual sleep practice in ancient Greek healing sanctuaries such as the Asclepieia—was used to induce apocalyptic dreams for healing. Although originally mystical, the concept parallels modern holistic and personalized medicine. This practice played a key role in transitioning medicine from empirical traditions toward scientific approaches, sowing seeds for modern therapy. The study examines therapeutic incubation as a holistic patient approach and a placebo effect, and explores its connections to contemporary therapeutic procedures.