Scientists put sleep loss under the brain scanner
NCT ID NCT07822009
First seen Sep 16, 2026 · Last updated Sep 17, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers at Örebro University are studying how losing sleep changes brain activity, thinking skills, and markers of stress and inflammation. Twenty-four healthy adults aged 20 to 40 complete three conditions in random order: staying awake 28 to 32 hours, sleeping only 4 hours a night for two nights, and sleeping normally. Brain scans during rest and mental tasks, plus blood measures such as cortisol, show whether total and partial sleep loss affect the brain and body differently.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- sleep deprivation, tested as total wakefulness and as a short sleep restriction
- What this could lead to
- If the study maps how lost sleep changes brain networks and stress markers, it could sharpen advice on shift work, study habits, and sleep loss limits.
- What could go wrong
- The study is small, with 24 healthy young adults, so its brain and biomarker patterns may not hold for older people or those with health conditions. Short-term sleep loss in a lab also differs from years of poor sleep.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 24 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Jun 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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20 to 40 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Signed informed consent prior to any study-related procedures. * Age 20 to 40 years. * Normal weight at screening, defined as a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9. * Willingness to comply with the study protocol. Exclusion Criteria: * Current diagnosis of a psychiatric or neurological disorder or syndrome. * Current diagnosis of another medical condition that limits study participation. * Diagnosed sleep disorder (e.g., insomnia). * Self-reported poor sleep quality (\>5 on the PSQI). * Working permanent night shifts or rotating night shifts. * Use of medications or dietary supplements considered likely to affect the study outcome measures (e.g., melatonin). * Extremely high perceived stress (\>26 on the PSS). * Sleep apnea. * Excessive alcohol consumption (\>9 standard drinks per week or \>3 standard drinks per occasion). * Extreme morningness or eveningness (\>69 or \<31 on the MEQ). * Excessive daytime sleepiness (\>10 on the ESS). * Lifestyle factors that may contribute to fragmented sleep (e.g., being a parent of young children). * MRI contraindications: claustrophobia; shunts in the head; bullet fragments or metal fragments in the body; metal implants or electrodes in the body; left-handedness; previous head surgery; previous heart surgery; or ingestion of a video capsule that may remain in the gastrointestinal tract. * Any other reason that, in the opinion of the investigator, makes participation inappropriate.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Örebro university
Örebro, Örebro County, 70182, Sweden
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