Sleep quality

36 papers24 findings

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Against: findings that point the other way from most findings on the same outcome.

On aging: the drug’s trials ARN judged to be about aging, of every trial that tests it for any use.

No results posted: trials that ended more than a year ago with no results on ClinicalTrials.gov and no paper in ARN’s record.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

20 independent labs in 8 countries

Funders: National Institutes of Health and others

Humans34

Outcomes

Cognitive function

no changein humans1

1 study

Sleep quality has no effect on cognitive function in humans.
“sleep quality was not associated with cognition.”
HumansUnited States; adjusted for MIDUS 2 cognition and covariates
Pathways from Social Support to Cognition Among Adults in the United States: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis of Perceived Stress and Sleep Quality
medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences12 Aug 2026Preprint

Memory complaints

no changein humans1

1 study

Sleep quality has no effect on memory complaints in humans.
“No significant correlation emerged between self‐reported sleep quality and memory complaints.”
Humansin Kenyan adults across dementia, control, and oncology groupsn = 263
Sleeping Away: The Hidden Toll of Self‐reported Sleep Health and Dementia in Kenyan Adults with Chronic Diseases
AAIC 2025 abstract24 Dec 2025

Social frailty

no changein humans1

1 study

Sleep quality has no effect on social frailty in humans (β = 0.057; p = 0.282).
“the direct effect of sleep quality on social frailty (β = 0.057, p = 0.282)”
HumansIschemic stroke inpatients; nonsignificant direct association in structural equation modeln = 437
Analysis of influencing factors and paths of social frailty in older adult patients with ischemic stroke: a cross-sectional study
Frontiers in public health20 Oct 2025

Tower of London test

no changein humans1

1 study

Sleep quality has no effect on Tower of London test in humans.
“Additionally there was no significant interaction between the Tower of London Test score and sleep status.”
Humansn = 100
Effect of sleep quality on different aspects of executive function in older Iranians
Australasian journal on ageing1 Sep 2025

Associations

Executive function

downin humans2

2 studies

Sleep quality is associated with executive function in humans (r = -0.116, p = 0.007).
“executive functioning decline was associated with poor subjective sleep quality (r=-0.116, p = 0.007)”
Humans9.2 yearsn = 537
Age-Specific Long-Term Effects Of Sleep On Memory And Executive Function: MIDUS 2 And 3
GSA 2025 abstract31 Dec 2025
Sleep quality is associated with executive function in humans.
“Sleep status was independently associated with poorer executive functioning, indicated by perseverative errors, categories and incorrect replacement on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, as well as the Trail Making Test B.”
Humansn = 100
Effect of sleep quality on different aspects of executive function in older Iranians
Australasian journal on ageing1 Sep 2025

Motor performance

upin humans1

1 study

Sleep quality is associated with motor performance in humans (r = 0.2, SD = 0.05).
“In the combined model of the HCP-YA sample, a canonical variate of better sleep, mild, sub-clinical depressive symptoms, and altered GMV of several cortical (including precentral and fusiform gyrus), thalamus, and cerebellar brain regions was associated with a canonical variate of better MP (r = 0.2, SD = 0.05).”
Humans
Multivariate associations of motor performance, sleep quality, depressive symptoms, and grey matter volume in younger and mid-to-older adults
Scientific reports10 Jan 2026

Psychological well-being

upin humans1

1 study

Sleep quality is associated with psychological well-being in humans (2008: β = 0.159; 2011: β = 0.193; 2014: β = 0.207; 2018: β = 0.266; all p < 0.001).
“After controlling for time-invariant and time-varying covariates, better sleep quality was consistently associated with better psychological well-being among older adults”
HumansChinese older adults; adjusted for time-invariant and time-varying covariates2008–2018n = 2,371
Better Sleep Better Psychological Well-Being Among Older Adults: Evidence From the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS)
Journal of aging research1 Jan 2026

Psychological capacity

upin humans1

1 study

Sleep quality is associated with psychological capacity in humans.
“Psychological capacity showed a specific association with sleep quality.”
Humansn = 3,398
Complex relationships among various domains of intrinsic capacity and their associated factors in community-dwelling older adults: A network analysis
Experimental gerontology31 Dec 2025

Daily activity diversity

upin humans1

1 study

Sleep quality predicts daily activity diversity in humans.
“for the oldest-olds (≥80), higher sleep quality predicted greater activity diversity”
Humansin oldest-old adults
Associations Between Nightly Sleep and Daily Activity Diversity Among Older Adults
GSA 2025 abstract31 Dec 2025

Weak-binder status on VSTMBT

downin humans1

1 study

Sleep quality lowers the risk of weak-binder status on VSTMBT in humans (AOR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.247–1.011, p = 0.054).
“Consistent sleep quality was marginally associated with lower odds of WB. There were slightly significant lower odds (AOR=0.50, 95% CI: 0.247 ‐ 1.011; p = 0.054)”
Humans
A comparative analysis of analytic approaches for predicting performance on a putative behavioural marker for Alzheimer's disease
AAIC 2025 abstract25 Dec 2025

pTau231

upin humans1

1 study

Sleep quality is associated with pTau231 in humans (β = 0.02, p = 0.04).
“Poorer SQ was significantly associated with elevated pTau231 (β = 0.02, p = 0.04)”
Humansbloodmalesn = 938
Associations of Sleep Quality and Apolipoprotein Genotype with Blood‐based Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease and Neurodegeneration
AAIC 2025 abstract24 Dec 2025