The Lausanne University team’s findings, published on Friday in the scientific journal Science, could provide a basis for understanding how sleep is regulated in the different stages of human life.

In addition to identifying the presence of a “normal sleep” gene, the study found that vitamin A plays a role in sleep quality. However, it was unclear whether sleepless nights were caused by an excess or a lack of the vitamin.

“Our finding is important in that we show that a gene affects sleep quality – something that was unknown till now,” said head of the research team, Professor Mehdi Tafti.

While this all sounds quite interesting I prefer to remain a little dubious about claims of finding a sleep gene. It will take some time to learn just what role it plays, if any.

Very slow brain waves, known as delta waves, are an indication of deep, restful sleep. In many older people, insomniacs and those suffering depression there is an absence of “delta activity”. These people often have broken or restless sleep.

However, such observations merely raise more questions. Is this a chicken-and-egg issue? Is the pattern of relationships causal or simply associative? Do the observations suggest another line of enquiry?

Certainly we already know the importance of sleep, so it is good that further research is being undertaken. As for the reference to a role for vitamin A, I suggest it is safe to largely ignore this for now, but we may keep an ear open on the issue.

Peter
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Dr Peter Tylee
Editor